Fearless
by brandinm05
Summary: What if Bella didn't choose Edward or Jake? What if she chose independence and a life of her own? What would the Big Man upstairs have in store for her? A/H, A/U
1. Fearless

**A/N: Hi all- some of you know me from Crescent Moon, which is near completion. I decided I needed a rest and decided to write a completely out of this world fic. What I came up with was a short fic (roughly 7 chapters) of well, craziness. This is A/H, and it takes place somewhere much sunnier than Forks, Washington. I wanna give a HUGE shout out to my beta, EndlesslyWaiting- you are freaking AMAZING and I would be NOWHERE without you. Thanks for being amazing! And without further ado!**

Chapter One- Successful

I threw my bag over my shoulder and gave the small house one last glance. It was drizzling outside and my hair was starting to frizz. I exhaled loudly and called out to Charlie.

"Dad! Come on! We're going to be late!" I yelled before walking towards the police cruiser. I hated riding around in the cruiser, but there was no way my truck would make the journey to Seattle. I walked over to the old Chevy and gave her a final pat on the hood thinking back on the fond memories I had of it.

I heard someone clearing their throat behind me and turned around to see my best friend. At 6'4, Jake easily towered over me, and his long, sinewy muscles were covered in taut, russet colored skin. To top it all off, he was never fully clothed. Over the years, I had gotten used to seeing him this way, so his half naked body didn't even register on my radar anymore.

"Jake! What are you doing here!?" I exclaimed as I ran over to him to throw my arms around his neck. We had already said our goodbyes, so I didn't figure there was much else to say. As I hugged him, I inhaled his earthy, musky scent. This would be the last hug I would give him for a long time. His arms wrapped around me and I felt his lips on my hair. He inhaled deeply before talking.

"Bella," he started. He voice was soft, raspy. Defeated. "Do you have to go?"

I scowled, "Yes Jake, and you know why… I can't be here if _he's _going to be here. I need to get out on my own for a while."

"Yeah, but do you have to go all the way to Texas? I mean, can't you go to Oregon or something?" He whined. We had already had this discussion, but he apparently wasn't ready to give up quite yet.

I groaned. "Jake, I need to go somewhere sunny. The constant rain and clouds are eating me up inside."

"So go to California!" he yelled.

I took a step back and took a deep breath. Calmly, I gave Jake the same speech I had given everyone about my move_. _"I have to go to Texas. This is me being selfish Jake, I'm sorry. I have to do this. I've got to do this on my own. Please, understand that. You know I love you- that's never going to change, ever. But I've become too dependent on you and the others. I need to be my own person. I'll be back, I promise."

His brown, almost black, eyes met my own chocolate brown ones in a stare that would have frightened me had it not been Jake. I knew he was angry, but he would never hurt me. I boldly stepped forward and grabbed his hand. "Come on Jake, we've been over this. I'll call you when I get settled. Maybe you can come visit, okay?"

The idea of visiting seemed to brighten his mood, if only slightly. He gave me a nod and pulled me into his huge, warm chest, hugging me tightly. I heard the front door slam and I knew it was Charlie.

He spoke softly, knowing he couldn't change my mind. "Just… be careful okay? Call me. I'll miss you Bells. A lot." He squeezed even tighter and I squealed.

"Jake! Can't. Breathe!" I choked out.

He quickly released, "Oh. Sorry."

I stood up on my tip toes and kissed his unshaven cheek. "I'll see you later, okay? No goodbyes. Goodbye is too final. We'll see each other again, I promise."

Jake nodded again and flashed me a brilliant, white smile before turning to Charlie. "Can't say I didn't try." He shrugged his shoulders, gave me one last smile, and trotted over to where his Rabbit was sitting down on the road.

I turned towards Charlie and scowled at him, "Dad! I can't believe you roped him into trying to make me stay!"

Charlie looked at me sheepishly, "Oh, come on Bells! I had to try!" He strode passed me, ruffled my hair and climbed into his cruiser. I shot him a death glare and stomped over to the passenger side of the car and got inside. It was going to be a long, quiet ride to Seattle.

I pulled the seat belt on, kicked off my Chucks, and pulled my knees up into my chest. It was typical of me to sit like this in the car. It was more comfortable and I could soak up my own warmth. The one good thing about going anywhere with Charlie was that I knew I would have time to think, as he wasn't much of a talker. I guess that's something I got from him.

Charlie pulled out of the drive and headed towards the interstate. When we left the town of Forks, I let out an exhaled breath. I had done it. I had left Forks. Charlie wasn't happy about me leaving, but he understood. Sort of. He understood the need for me to get a good education. He understood my need to become my own person. But he didn't understand why I needed to go all the way to Texas to do it.

If I'm being honest, I don't really know why I chose Houston, Texas. It was a few weeks before high school graduation when I was looking at a map of the US. I had closed my eyes, spun around in a couple of circles and put my finger to the map. When I opened my eyes, my finger was sitting on Houston, Texas. At that moment, I decided that's where I was going. _He _was so set on going to college at Dartmouth. I snickered to myself at that idea. Like _I _would ever want to go to Dartmouth! But that was something _he _never considered - what _I _wanted. It was always what he wanted, what he thought was the best, what he thought would benefit us the best. He never took what I wanted into consideration. Finally, I got fed up with it. I got fed up with his pushy, protective nature. I got fed up with his constant phone calls and texts, asking me where I was at, and who I was with. I wasn't a five year old who needed constant babysitting. When I ended things with Edward Cullen, nobody saw it coming. Nobody but me. I may have gotten my quietness from my father, but I got my mother's free spirit. I was a bird who didn't want to be caged. I wanted to fly- I wanted to be my own damn bird. I was ready to be my own person. And I couldn't do that with Edward Cullen on my back.

I had spent all four years of high school with him. As soon as I moved to Forks my freshman year, he had caught my eye, and apparently I had caught his. He asked me to the Homecoming dance and from there, we were the "it" couple. Edward was popular due to his older siblings, Emmett and Jasper. Emmett was a junior when we were freshman and he dated the most beautiful and popular girl at school, Rosalie Hale. Jasper was a sophomore and he dated my best friend, Alice. She was the same age as me, and we became fast friends after Edward and I were considered a "thing". Emmett, the star football player, and Rose, the star gymnast, had gone off to college at UW, and Jasper headed off to UO, with Alice following this fall. Edward had made our plans to go to Dartmouth- he would go into medicine and I would do English. He had it all planned out.

Over the four years, our relationship had its ups and downs. We had fights and took "breaks" from each other. During my sophomore year, we got into a huge fight about his underage drinking with Emmett up at UW. It wasn't that I didn't trust him, it was more that I didn't like him drinking. My dad _is _the police chief. We got into a huge screaming match with each other and ended up taking a break. It was during this time that I met Jake. Jake lived down in La Push, and our dads were best friends. It only seemed natural for us to become friends. He was a freshman, but he went to school on the reservation. I had gone over to his place one night with Charlie (even though I whined and complained about it), and I met Jake. Tall, skinny, lanky, and a smile to brighten any ones day, he instantly became my own bit of sunshine. We developed a very tight and affectionate relationship, but we were never any more than best friends. I knew he loved me and I loved him. That was it. There was no blurring of the lines- we were best friends, that was all. Edward however, seemed to disagree and felt that there was something more to the friendship. He was jealous, and would try to tell me that I couldn't see Jake. This, of course, would piss me off, which would in turn piss Jake off, and basically because of that, the two hated each other. Honestly, it was nice. Whenever I felt like bitching about Edward, I knew I could go to Jake and he would listen and put his own two cents in to it. He was constantly telling me that I could do better, that I could be with someone who would do everything in his power to make me happy, that and someone who wouldn't control my life. But I didn't believe him… And so, over four years- Edward and I stuck together, through the ups and downs. Until finally I ended it.

I felt like he was suffocating me- telling me what to do and who I would do it with. So, the same day I chose to go to Houston, I drove over to his place and ended things. For good. And damn him if he didn't cry. Edward Cullen actually _cried. _He came across as such a hard ass, but underneath it all, he was a pansy. He begged me to change my mind, he swore he'd change. But I was done with him. I gave him back all the expensive jewelery his daddy's money had bought, all the t-shirts he had given me, and everything else I could to rid myself of him. I left him crying in his bedroom. When I left his house, I had never felt freer in my life. I got in my truck, rolled the windows down, flipped on my iPod, and started singing the first song that had popped up.

_Successful _by Drake.

I loved that song, and I love Drake. He is… amazing. He has this smooth as honey voice and the way the words just flow off his tongue makes me wonder what else he can do with it. I giggled to myself at the thought of actually meeting Drake. Like that would ever happen right?

Bringing myself back to reality, I caught a glimpse at a highway sign. 100 miles to Seattle and Charlie still hadn't spoken a single word. He just drove. His hands at ten and two, his eyes straight ahead.

I figured I should break the silence. It was only a 100 miles, right?

"Dad."

He grunted back.

I smiled, "You know I'll be back at Christmas, right?"

He grunted again.

"At least, I think I will. I'll try really hard. I'll definitely be home for summer. I'm going to come back, Dad."

His eyes shifted from the road to me then back to the road again.

I slowly reached over and put my hand on top of his and gave him a little squeeze for assurance. "I'll call you. And email you. And… we can Skype!" Charlie had recently gotten a new computer with his work bonus. He said he wanted to be able to email me and look up things that were going down in Houston.

He squeezed my hand back and humphed, "Bella. What in the hell is Skype?"

I laughed, "It's this program on the computer. We need to get your computer a webcam and mine already has one … But we can talk to each other, kind of like on the phone. Only we get to see each other!"

He gave me a small, crooked grin. "I guess I'll need to look into a webcam. And this Scope thing."

"Skype Dad, it's called Skype." I giggled.

"Right… I'll have Jake help me." He said gruffly.

"Probably a good idea Dad." I took my hand back and laid it in my lap and went back to looking out the window.

I heard him exhale loudly and then he started to speak, "I'm sorry for being a pain Bella. I'm just scared I'm going to lose you." He eyes left the road briefly, looking at me. Sadly he added, "Just like I lost your mother."

I knew that was why he was freaking out about me leaving. Renee had walked out on Charlie when I was just a year old. She said she couldn't take Forks any longer and left, never to come back. I came back when I was fifteen because she got remarried to a guy named Phil. They wanted to travel and I didn't want to be in the way. So I went to live with my Dad. It was one of the best decisions I had ever made.

"Aw Dad, come on! You know I'll be back." I answered.

His voice rose, "I can't help it Bella! Your mom left, and well, I just figured you were running away like she did."

"You think I'm running away?" I asked incredulously. I couldn't believe that he thought I running away!

"Well, aren't you? You could have gone to school at UW or something. Why Texas?" He asked.

I was getting fed up with everyone questioning me as to why I had to go to Texas. "It's just something I need to do Dad. I need to prove to myself that I can do this. That I can live without everything here in Forks."

"Without me, you mean." He murmured.

"No!" I exclaimed. "Moving to Forks was one of the best things I've ever done. I loved living with you, Dad. I loved getting to know you, cooking for you, being your daughter. Now, I just need to do it for myself. I've spent the last four years dependent on those around me; you, Jake, Edward… I need to know that I can depend on myself. Now is the time to do it." I said finally. "Besides, U of T has an awesome Literature program, and the education program is the top in the US. You know what this will mean for my future."

He sighed again, but nodded, "Alright. I can't say I'm happy about it. But, alright. Just ... maybe we can scope a few times a week or something?"

"Skype Dad, its called Skype!" I laughed.

"Skype, scope, whatever!" He laughed along with me and we talked about the things I planned on doing once I got to Houston. I's been saving money from the past five or so birthdays and Christmas's, so that I had enough for household furnishing and rent for several months. I had already called a realtor and I would be seeing her once I arrived about several apartments I had viewed online. Until I found my apartment, I would be staying at a hotel. Charlie insisted on paying for the hotel room, but I wasn't complaining. I had luckily received a full-ride scholarship for U of T, so I didn't have to worry about tuition or books. I decided to live off-campus, again pushing for the idea of "being my own person". I didn't want to become dependent on anyone but myself. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't want friends. I couldn't wait to get to Houston and meet new people, and maybe a roommate.

Before I knew it, we were pulling into the airport. Charlie parked the cruiser and helped me with my bags. I only had a few bags, as I didn't have many belongings. I wasn't exactly a materialistic person. Plus, I was moving to Texas - I wouldn't be needing my winter clothes that much! Two suitcases, one military duffle bag, and a book bag and I was ready to get my ticket. Charlie grabbed my heavy suitcases and pulled them up to the United kiosk. I plugged in my information, got my tickets, and checked my bags - and paid an extra $50 for the military duffle too.

I gave Charlie a huge hug and kissed his scruffy cheek. "I'll let you know when I land. Don't forget about the webcam and to download Skype! Oh, I made a few casseroles for you, they're in the freezer!"

He rolled his eyes and kissed my forehead, "You are a godsend, my beautiful, amazing daughter. Be careful, and I'll talk to you soon."

"Love you Dad."

"Love you too, baby."

I watched as he walked out of airport towards the cruiser and I walked in the opposite direction towards security. I dropped my book bag on onto the conveyor, took my shoes and belt off, and pulled my laptop out of the bag. I walked through the metal detector, put my stuff back on and looked at my ticket.

"Gate C." I mumbled to myself. I bit my bottom lip as I looked towards the ceiling for direction. I started walking in the towards my gate, making my way through the Seattle airport. I walked about ten minutes before finally finding it. I sat down and pulled out my iPod, plugging my ear buds into my ears.

Drake flowed into my ears and I started to bob my head to "Forever", completely losing myself to the words. I started singing along with his beat, not really paying attention to my surroundings. I barely looked up when I noticed someone was standing in front of me. I figured it was someone waiting to get on the plane like me… Then they started tapping their foot. Out of beat with Drake. I got annoyed.

My face continued staring at my iPod as I mumbled, "Do you mind?"

"Good to see you too, Bella." An angelic voice answered me.

My eyes whipped up to meet two sapphire blue ones and I screamed. "Alice!" I jumped up and threw my arms around her neck. "What? What on earth are you doing here?!" I exclaimed.

She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes, "What? A girl isn't allowed to help her best friend move into unknown territory?!"

I stared at her, "What?! You mean… You're coming with me?!"

She nodded her head emphatically. "I talked to Charlie about it, and he feels a lot better knowing that I'll be there with you. For a little while at least."

"But what about Jasper?" I asked quickly, my eyes not meeting hers.

She plopped down beside me and sighed, "Oh come on, you know you're more important than Jasper."

I giggled and we did our handshake, "Chicks before dicks baby!" we exclaimed together.

_That_ awarded us some funny looks.

"But really… What about Jasper?" I asked again once we calmed down.

She sighed and started picking her fingers.

"Alice…." I started, fully concerned by her behavior. Usually she was bubbly and enthusiastic, especially when it came to Jasper. They'd been together since she was in sixth grade, made all their plans together and had even started talking about their engagement.

She looked at me exasperatedly, "Can we just… not talk about him right now. Please. When we get to Houston, I'll tell you all about it."

I nodded my head and put my arm around her, pulling her into my body. I gave her one of my ear buds and she put it in, nestling back in under my arm.

"Drake. Why am I not surprised?" She deadpanned.

I laughed, "Hey, I can't help that I have an unhealthy obsession with him. He just… speaks to me, okay?"

She shook her head and started bobbing her head to the beat, taking in his words. "You know. I think you're right… He does speak to me. And his voice is ah-ma-zing." She sounded like a fourteen year old teeny bopper, but I couldn't disagree. His voice _was _amazing.

Pretty soon we were boarding the plane. Somehow we managed to get seats beside each other, which was ridiculous. All Alice had to do was bat her eyelashes and give the guy a wink and my aisle companion quickly changed tickets and seats with her. Alice was now Alfred Barnaby.

We giggled endlessly about the name until take off. The flight attendant went through the procedures of take off and what not, but I wasn't paying much attention. The pilot did a voice over, explaining that we might hit some turbulence as it was raining outside. It was the perfect Forks, Washington send off. I came in during a rain storm, and now I was leaving in one.

We taxied out to the runway and the pilot accelerated, my head shooting back into the seat. I always loved this part of the flight, feeling as if there was zero gravity. I had the window seat, but Alice was straining her neck in front of me, peering out the window.

"Goodbye Forks, Washington!" She squealed.

I raised an eyebrow, "Goodbye? That's a little definite. How long do you plan on being in Houston with me, Alice?"

She squirmed in her seat, trying to get comfortable and responded nonchalantly, "A while. A month, maybe two. I figured you'd need a roommate."

My mouth dropped open. Alice hasn't been away from Jasper for that long in… well, never!

"A month or two? Ali! What about Jasper?" I questioned.

She looked at me and said, "I thought I said not to talk about him until Houston. We are definitely not in Houston."

Her voice was edgy and it took me off guard. Alice never got stern and serious about anything. "Okay then. We'll talk about it later I guess." I gave her a weary look and turned back to the window.

Alice began wondering out loud if we would have an in flight meal or if we would just get peanuts or crackers. But my mind was elsewhere, staring out into the hazy darkness that was Washington. Rain splattered on the window and I pulled the shade down, disgusted by the weather.

At least in Houston it'll be sunny, I mused. I pulled my iPod back out and scrolled to Drake again and pushed play. Alice had pulled out a couple of fashion magazines and was looking at them way too intensely for my liking. Alice had a thing for dressing me up. It drove me nuts, but I let her because it made her happy. When it came to fashion, I knew what stilettos were, who was important (Oscar de le Renta, Calvin Klein, Donna Karen, Diane von Furstenburg, Armani), and of course, what the latest set of Chuck's looked like.

I'd been wearing Chuck Taylor's since I was five. I begged my mom to buy me a pair of black and white Chuck's for my birthday and she complied - sort of. Instead of black, they were pink but I dealt with it - sort of. I ended up taking a black magic marker to them and colored over the pink. I absolutely hated pink. My mother knew that, but she still tried to put me in it. Ever since my first set of Chuck's, they were pretty much the only sneakers to grace my feet (other than my running Puma's). Today I was wearing my favorite's- red low tops with no laces. I'm a pretty typical klutz, so if I can take a chance to trip out of my day, I do it. Hence the no laces. My latest addition to my Chuck's family was a pair of All-Star low tops with rainbow print- unfortunately it had pink in the color scheme, but I deal with it because I love the shoes.

I glanced back over at Alice and noticed she was making notes in the magazines. Alice was dedicated to fashion. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Brandon took her to New York every year for the NY Fashion Show. She even had an internship last summer at a clothing boutique. The boutique made custom dresses for their customers and she was able to make several dresses, even a few for the governor's daughter. She received high praise for that. She loved designing and creating clothes, which is why I always wondered why she was going to UO- it definitely did not have a design program. Again, I found myself wondering about her and Jasper.

Several hours later and few repeats of Drake, it was time for landing.

"Hellloooooo Houston!" Alice squealed as the plane made its bumpy landing. She seemed more excited than me.

I shot her a big smile and we made our way to baggage claim. My suitcases and military bag came around and we waited for Alice's Louis Vuitton luggage set to roll around. I shook my head in admonishment when I thought of how much the set had to cost. Probably as much as a year's rent - in a 3 bedroom apartment - with a _pool! _But she didn't care how much it cost- her parents were loaded. Like, the third richest family on the west coast loaded. I never understood why they settled down in Forks. Alice mentioned something about her parents wanting to give her a regular childhood. I giggled. Right, because every child is decorated in Chanel and Armani at the age of two and has her own Mercedes Benz E550 at sixteen.

We grabbed our luggage (after a several stares from various onlookers), and stumbled towards the door. It was seven in the evening, so the sun was down, but it was still hot. But it was dry - so very, very dry. I smiled again, more to myself than anything, and Alice ran to hail a cab. One came to a screeching halt in front of her and the driver rushed to help us put things in the trunk. Unlike me, Alice was dressed to kill in one of her own creations. A red, low neck dress that came to above her knees, and fit her at just the right areas to give her an hour glass figures. Instead of the typical 5'1, she had grown 4 inches in her favorite Giorgio Armani black leather patent pumps. I glanced down at myself: ragged, holey jeans, black and red band t-shirt, and red Chucks. Yeah, I looked hot, especially next to Alice.

We climbed into the taxi and I told him the address to my hotel. "400 Dallas Street please, the Doubletree Hotel."

"Sure thing, miss." The driver said. Keeping up small talk he spoke again, "First time in Houston?" His voice had a bit of a southern drawl and it was raspy as if he had smoked all his life. He wasn't unattractive, just on the older side. His black hair was starting to grey and recede at the crown, and he had more than a five o'clock shadow.

I pulled my wallet out of my backpack and answered, "Yep."

He looked at me again in through the mirror, "So where'd ya fly in from?"

"Seattle, Washington" Alice answered.

He laughed, "Houston's a far cry away from Seattle. You girls ready for the heat?"

"Yes!" We both exclaimed, falling into a fit of giggles. The rest of the drive was quiet as me and Alice took in the scenery around us. We passed tall buildings lit up like it was Christmas, plenty of bars, and even what looked like a shopping center.

"Oooo! Bella! They have an Armani!" Alice squealed again.

I groaned and the driver laughed. I leaned up and whispered to him, "You have no idea how bad those words are. Don't be surprised if you see me again and I'm wearing the latest and greatest from that store."

Alice pouted, shoving her bottom lip out, and crossed her arms in front of her. "And this is the thanks I get for surprising my best friend and moving to Houston with her!"

Again, the cabby laughed and said, "You girls sound like you have a lot of fun together." He slowed to a stop in front of the Doubletree. "This is you." He looked at the meter. "It'll be $50."

My eyes bulged at the number but Alice quickly pulled out the money from her wallet and gave it to him. She looked at me and said, "You can get the next one, k?"

I just nodded my head and climbed out of the car, still in a state of shock. Thankfully I remembered that Houston has a very well developed city transit program with buses and a subway system. That was definitely the most expensive car ride of my life.

The cabby helped pull our luggage out and we said our goodbyes, and rushed into the front desk.

A girl with bright red hair and a name tag saying "Brittany" checked us in and gave us our room key.

"You're on the eight floor, room 818." She told us quickly and without much enthusiasm in her voice.

We got on the elevator and made it to our room. Two double beds sat beside each other and we had a small bathroom and kitchenette.

Alice grumbled, "We need an apartment. ASAP."

"Ali, how long do you really plan on staying?" I asked again, dropping my luggage. Alice plopped her luggage on her bed and opened up the smaller suitcase, pulling out a white polar bear.

She pulled the polar bear close into her chest and mumbled, "He swore he loved me."

"Of course Jasper loves you, Ali. It's been you and him since forever." I responded quickly, moving to stand next to her.

Her eyes met mine, and they were filled with tears. "Then why did he cheat on me?"

I gasped, completely flabbergasted, and pulled her into my arms. "Oh no! Are you okay??"

She started sobbing in earnest, her frail arms still clutching the bear. She shook her head furiously, "No, I'm not okay, Bella," she choked out.

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry." I responded, pulling her tighter. "When did you find out?"

She pulled away from me and ran to the bathroom to grab some tissues, falling onto my bed and curling up into a tiny ball. I moved to sit down beside and start rubbing soothing circles on her back. I waited for her to answer me and slowly she told me.

She sniffled and put her head in my lap. "You remember that he wasn't at my graduation?"

"Mmhmm" I responded. I had thought it was odd, considering that it wasn't just Alice's graduation but his brother's too.

She continued her voice low and sad. "Well, he told me that he had a final to prepare for all weekend, so he couldn't make it home. I didn't think anything of it, and just let it go. We didn't have school the following week, so on Monday I went to Oregon to visit him."

"Okay." I encouraged her softly.

"I knew where he lived from being there so many times before, so I just went straight up to his room. I wanted to surprise him, you know?" Her voice began to waver. "When I knocked on the door, he didn't answer. So I called him. I heard his phone going off in his room. I knew it was his because it was our song for the ringtone." She sniffled again. "I knocked again and I heard someone's feet moving towards the door."

I continued rubbing her back, nodding my head as she spoke.

"I had on his favourite color. I wore the necklace that he bought me. I… I…" then she started breaking down sobbing again.

"Shhh, easy Ali. You're okay, you can do this." I cooed, trying to calm her down.

She took a few calming breaths and spoke again, "When _she _answered the door, I figured maybe it was his roommate's girlfriend. Then I remembered. Jasper didn't have a roommate. I mean, she was wearing _his_ shirt and _his_ boxers. It didn't make any sense to me. So I called out for him. He came running to the door, _in a pair of boxers that I had bought him_, but he refused to look me in the eye. I knew then that he was cheating on me. I just turned around and left."

She sat up and faced me, "He ran after me, you know."

I shook my head, "He did?"

She nodded hers, "Yeah. He was yelling at me, trying to make me stop so I would talk to him. But I just kept right on walking to my car, not stopping or anything. I climbed in my car, turned the ignition and sped off, leaving him standing outside in his underwear."

I giggled at the thought of Jasper standing outside in his underwear for all the world to see, but quickly tensed up. "Have you talked to him since then? It's been a week or so, right?"

"No," she shook her head. "I'm done with him, Bella. 'Once a cheater, always a cheater' as my mama would say. That's when I decided to come to Houston with you. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." She looked at me, her mouth twitching and her eyes all red.

I just gave her an encouraging smile and pulled her back into my arms. "Alice, I don't care what the reason is. I'm happy that you're here with me. And Jasper can rot in hell!" I exclaimed.

"Three cheers to that!" she responded. "Oh! Speaking of cheers!" She rushed out of my bed and flew to her purse. She pulled out what looked to be two state identification cards and threw them at me. "Here's to a new life in Houston, Texas!"

I looked at the I.D.'s confused. Then I realized. They were fakes. "Ali, I don't even want to know how you got these."

She did a twirl and collapsed on my bed again, "A lady never tells." She answered with a wink.

I started laughing, really laughing, for the first time in months. I grabbed her I.D. and looked at the name, "So Miss Brandi Calhoun. What do you say to putting these to good use?" I asked her suggestively.

She grabbed mine and said, "Well, Miss Katherine Rand, I think that is just a splendid idea!"

And so began our new future together.

**A/N: Told you it was a little wacky. I hope I caught your interest, and if not- please don't lose faith! I PROMISE it gets better--- like way better ;) Please, review and let me know what you think! Thanks!**

**xoxo  
**


	2. Wrong Phone Number

**Welcome to Chapter Two. For those who have reviewed, thank you! For those who have favorited me, but not reviewed- tsk tsk! How am I supposed to know if I'm doing this right or not?? Neverending love to my beta, _EndlesslyWaiting!_ You are the s**t :) **

Chapter Two- Wrong Phone Number

"Congratulations!" The man exclaimed over the phone.

I stuttered, "I'm sorry?"

"You just won two front row tickets to Young Money tomorrow night with back stage passes!" He continued on in his happy, radio voice.

"Uhh, I think I have the wrong phone number. I'm trying to get a hold of Aiden. His record came in?" I was completely confused as to what was happening.

The radio-voice man laughed, "Well, then this really _is _your lucky day! You've reached Aiden AND got yourself concert tickets! Now tell me, what's your name and who's the best radio station in Houston, Texas?" he asked.

Still completely caught off guard, I stumbled again with my train of thought, until Alice came into the room screaming in my ear and my cell phone, "Bella Swan and KBXX 97.9! The Box!"

"That's right! Stay on the line and we'll let you know where you can pick up your tickets!" The line went quiet for a few moments and then the man came back. "Hi, sorry about that, so you really weren't calling for the concert tickets?"

I laughed, "Definitely not. I honestly just got the record in that you ordered last week from my store, Black Door Records?" I asked.

"Oh yeah!" he laughed again, "I can honestly say that this has never happened. Well, you can pick up the tickets at the station. Would you mind bringing my record?" He asked.

I sat there, thinking about what he had just said and Alice grabbed the phone from me.

"We'll be there in a bit!" She squealed and snapped my phone shut. "OH MY GOD! WE HAVE FRONT ROW TICKETS TO YOUNG MONEY!" She screamed, jumping up and down in the store.

I slowly sat down and realized that I was breathing heavy. These kinds of things never happened to me; I _never _won anything - ever. Let alone front row tickets to a Young Money concert.

"Ali….. You know what this means, right?" I asked her quietly.

She skipped over to me with a huge smile on her face and giggled, "Shopping?"

I guffawed, "Oh no, something so much better than shopping."

She looked at me quizzically.

"Drake." I said simply.

At that she started squealing and jumping up and down again and thanking God over and over. She grabbed my hands and pulled me up and that's when it hit me.

"I'M GOING TO SEE DRAKE IN CONCERT!" I screamed. "Ali! I'm going to _meet_ Drake!" At this, _I _started squealing and jumping up and down, completely happy that I made the phone call when I did.

It's been two years since Ali and I moved to Houston, Texas. Two, beautiful amazing years. Ali was attending design school at the Houston Art Institute and I was two years deep in U of T literature and education classes. We found ourselves an affordable, amazing apartment in downtown Houston. The rent was easy to make do with and it had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room and a full kitchen. The complex even had a pool. Everything was going great. Ali was seeing other people, as was I. We had made plenty of new friends and our bond was tighter than ever. The Cullen boys seemed like a figment of our imagination- not people from our past. We had pushed forward, completely accepting what the future had to throw at us.

The first night we used our fake IDs, we made an oath to leap off every chance we got. And we did- every single time we could. We had gone bungee jumping, sky diving, deep sea fishing, water skiing, camping in the desert - but more importantly, we had moved on and forward from our exes. Don't get me wrong - there was not a single day that went by that I didn't think of Edward. But I knew that what I was doing would make me ten times happier than he ever could. Ali had the same opinion. Jasper continued to try to contact her, sending her flowers and chocolates, even jewelry sometimes. All of this she either threw away or gave away. Alice had absolutely nothing to do with Jasper. And she was stronger for it. Ali had become a better person. She was even stronger and more vibrant than before, and lived each day for her designs and the possibility of making the big time. She worked part time at a clothing boutique that did custom clothing, much like her internship at home. I worked part time at a record store called Black Door Records. It was really a coincidence that I found the job.

I had walked in, wanting the latest Forever the Sickest Kids CD and started milling about the aisles. I could hear two people arguing in the back, and one voice screamed that she quit. She huffed and puffed whilst collecting her things and then exited the store, never to be seen again. I walked up to the cashier, dropped the CD on the desk, and asked if they needed a new employee. I was hired on the spot. Since that day I have been working at the record store and truly enjoying my job. I was able to burn any of the CDs I wanted for free and I got to hear the latest stuff first. The manager of the store, Robert, was in love with me. He was an older guy, around sixty with white hair, black thick rimmed glasses, and a goatee. He always wore a band t-shirt and a pair of Dickies, with his own classic Chuck Taylors. Basically, for us it was love at first sight, in a strictly platonic kind of way. Robert and I got along famously and he trusted me with just about everything in the shop. Within a month I had been promoted from stock girl to assistant manager.

My phone started vibrating and I smiled when I saw who it was. I flipped my phone open and answered it, "Robert! Did you hear that I just got front row tickets to see Young Money!"

Robert's raspy smoker's voice answered laughing, "Yeah kid, I heard that! Looks like your dreams are coming true, baby girl!"

Robert knew of my slight infatuation with Drake, as I talked about him constantly in the store. I once told him that it was my life - long ambition to meet him, and now I was finally going to have the chance. "I can't believe it! I just called the station to tell them about the record and they were all like, 'Congratulations!' I was completely stunned!"

"Yeah, I could tell." He laughed in my ear.

"What do you mean?" I asked, my stomach dropping.

He laughed again, "Bella- the entire conversation was aired on the radio. I must say, you have quite the radio voice."

I sat there, mouth hanging open and stuttered out, "What? I mean … Surely they didn't … But that means … Everyone knows!"

"Ah, no worries, kid. People just be jealous." Robert responded in his best "rapper" voice.

I giggled again, "Did you need anything Rob or are you just calling to taunt me?"

"Oh yeah, sorry! Ummm, I don't honestly remember now… I hate getting old. It'll come back to me if it was important," he said.

I just shook my head and smiled, "Alright old man, I'll see you later!"

"Bye Bella." He said before ending the phone call.

I dropped my phone on my bed and went to search for Alice. I found her on her hands and knees digging around in our huge hallway closet. It was one of the reasons we got the apartment - it had a huge ten foot long, 6 foot wide closet. Definitely enough space for all my stuff - Alice's well… Her stuff barely fit.

"Alice, what are you doing?" I asked, my hands on my hips, my head cocked to one side.

She paused and looked up at me from the piles of clothing she was digging through. "I was looking for the perfect outfit for the concert."

I bent down and started sifting through clothes and found a black tank top that I absolutely loved. "I think I'll wear this and my BKE's with my Chucks."

Her head slowly swiveled to look at me, her eyes desperate. "Bella Swan! You are going to meet the man of your dreams and you want to wear a _tank top?!_ What is wrong with you?" She yelled before pulling out a few other things and tossing them towards my room.

"Ali, come on. You know that stuff isn't me. Besides, it'll be hot and I don't want to be sweating like a pig." I answered gently.

"Pigs don't sweat." She mumbled.

I barked out a laugh and elbowed her in the side. She fell over and I tackled her, tickling her sides. She squealed and laughed manically.

"Stop!" She squeaked out. "Stop!!!" she screamed, still laughing.

I slowed down, giving her _the_ look, not removing my hands.

"Okay! Okay!" She giggled, "You can wear what you want! Just. Stop. Tickling. Me!"

I laughed at her submission and grabbed my tank and jeans from the closet and headed back to my room.

"I'll get you back for that, Swan! Watch your back!" She called after me.

"Yeah yeah, I hear you!" I threw back over my shoulder before walking into my room.

I loved my room- it was me. Unfortunately the walls were white, but I covered the walls up to the best of my ability with posters and pictures. I had one wall that was nothing but a collage of photos I'd taken over the past two years in Houston. I'd thrown in a few photos from home- Charlie, Jake, and my friends from school. Mostly the pictures were of Ali and me and our new friends or scenery and architecture. I wasn't the best at taking pictures, but I made do. The other three walls were covered with whatever I could possibly put on it- movie posters, singers, actors, actresses, cards from home, notes from friends, post cards, paintings that I'd found down in Chinatown. Along the tops of the walls, I'd strung Christmas lights to give off a softer glow as opposed to the harsh fluorescent bulb I had in the center of my ceiling.

I had chosen the room that faced the east, so the sun would pour in through the windows in the morning. From the years in Forks, I'd forgotten how much I absolutely loved the sunshine. Thankfully, the room had a wall of windows that started about a foot over the ground and stopped about two feet from the ceiling. They were sliding windows, so I could open should I want to (and I did, quite frequently). I loved to have the Houston air flow into my room. In the summer it was entirely too hot to have the windows open, but the rest of the year I made do with just the windows open. Because the closet was outside the room, I was able to get a huge king size, dark mahogany wood sleigh bed and a matching desk for my computer. I had a nightstand beside my bed that my alarm clock and random books to sit on. Beside my desk, I had a four shelf book shelf filled to the brim with books of all shapes and sizes- classics, science fiction, romance, non-fiction. It didn't matter what, as long as it was hard back. On my desk sat several framed photos: one of me and Ali from the first day in our new apartment, one of me and Charlie from graduation, one of me and Jake down at First Beach, and one of me and Renee down in Jacksonville.

I dropped the clothes on my chocolate brown comforter and walked to my Macbook and flipped it on. I waited for it boot up and looked at the picture of Jake and me. It'd been over a year since I'd last seen him. He was going to school up at UW to become an auto-mechanic and the last time I was home, he was too busy with his internship that we didn't have much time to see each other. I missed my best friend, but he seemed happy. He was loving school and he'd met a girl that he was head over heels for, Jasmen. She was beautiful - 5'7, athletic build, chestnut brown hair and piercing blue eyes. But it was her attitude that really made me understand why Jake loved her so much - she was so completely optimistic and bubbly. It was intoxicating. They made a beautiful couple.

I decided I'd shoot him an email, knowing that my concert tickets would make him green with envy and then I composed one for Charlie as well. He had gotten Skype as I asked him to and we used to talk three times a week, but now that I'm busy it was more like once a week, if at all. I felt awful about it, but I did what I could to make it up to him. I went home for Christmas the first year and then the following summer. This year, I went home for Christmas again but not the summer. I decided to stay in Houston so that I could make more money and pick up some summer classes. Charlie wasn't happy about it, but he understood. Renee was a little less understanding and was constantly on my case about not visiting her. She had come out to Houston a couple of times, and it was great to see her, but I can only take my mother in small doses.

After I wrote the emails I pulled up Facebook and logged in. I groaned again when I saw they changed the layout of the homepage for a fourth time. This was getting a bit ridiculous. I'd finally get used to one form of homepage and then they'd change it again. I checked my wall and responded to some postings. I clicked back over to the "creeper feed" as I liked to call it, and started creeping. I stopped mid scroll and nearly threw up on my desk.

"Edward Cullen is now in a relationship" the post stated with a sickening little heart beside it.

I gulped and took a few deep refreshing breaths. He's in a relationship. Okay, I guess that's normal. And I did break up with him, I knew it was just a matter of time. But …

I got up and ran to the bathroom, unable to control the bile rising up to my mouth. I threw up my lunch in the toilet and then moved to the sink. I ran some cold water, swishing it my mouth before spitting it out. I splattered some on my face to cool me down and applied toothpaste to my toothbrush and started brushing. Alice came into view on the mirror.

"You okay Bell?" She asked, concerned.

I nodded my head and spit out the toothpaste. I took a deep breath and breathed out, "Edward Cullen is now in a relationship," just like the creeper feed said.

Alice's face fell and she stepped forward, her eyes never leaving mine in the mirror. Her arms enclosed me in a tight hug and I immediately felt better.

"I'm sorry baby. I know how hard this has to be." She said.

I shook my head slowly, "I just ... I guess …" I couldn't find the words I wanted to say.

"You just wish you didn't have to know about it, huh?" She answered for me.

I nodded my head emphatically. "I know I ended things with him. And it has been over two years, but … I guess I'm just not ready yet."

She gave me a knowing smile and a quick squeeze, "You are ready Bella. You've been ready for two years; you just never really took the plunge."

I looked at her blankly and then suspiciously as her eyes grew wider and a smile tugged at her lips. "What?" I asked, suddenly a little nervous.

"What do you say to going out tonight to celebrate?" She asked excitedly.

"Um ..." I answered.

"Come on Bella! We haven't been out in ages!" She begged.

"That's not true! We went out last Friday!" I retorted, moving to sit on the toilet.

Alice bent down in front of me, "Pizza at Jimmie's does not count! Let's hit up some bars tonight, get drunk and crazy! Come on, it'll be fun, I promise!"

I knew there was no way I could get out of it when Alice had made her mind up, so I just nodded my head in compliance. She squealed and dashed out of the bathroom, no doubt towards our huge closet. I stood up and looked at myself in front of the mirror.

I gave myself a weak smile. "Leap off, right?" I asked myself quietly.

Alice's head popped back into the door frame, "Right! Now, put this on!" She handed me a pair of skinny jeans, patent black heels, and a tank top with chains on the front.

I looked at her, eyebrow raised.

"Please Bella!" She pouted. "You won't let me dress you for tomorrow night. It's the least you can do for tonight. Please, please, please, please, please!"

I threw my hands up in the air and huffed, "Fine, fine! But you had best be prepared to hear me complaining about them shoes later!" I scowled and took the clothing and hooked the shoes with my fingers and closed the bathroom door to shower.

I turned the water on and waited for it to warm up before stepping into the glass encasing. Standing under the hot water, I let the day just roll off of me and wash away into the drain. I grabbed my shampoo and started working a lather into my chocolate brown locks. I continued my shower ritual: condition, body wash, shave, rinse, and dry. I wrapped my hair in a towel and one around my body and stepped up the mirror. My eyes looked a little bloodshot from crying earlier but otherwise my face looked refreshed. The Houston sun had done wonders for my skin, causing my skin to have a slight bronze to it. I also had freckles that decorated my forehead, nose, and cheeks. Alice hated her freckles, but I loved mine- they gave me character.

I slid on some lotion and my deodorant and then grabbed my clothes to go my bedroom. I threw the outfit on my bed next to my concert outfit and looked at them sitting next to each other. I bit my lip, wondering if maybe I should wear the outfit that Alice picked out tomorrow night. Comfort eventually ruled out sex appeal, so my decision stayed- Chucks, jeans, and the black tank for tomorrow night. Besides, it's not like Drake was going to notice me anyway. What would it matter what I looked like?

I walked over to my computer and hit the mouse, my facebook page popping back up. I plopped down in my chair and clicked on Edward's name, stunned by his picture momentarily. It was of him and a breathtaking, beautiful strawberry blonde girl. She looked like a super model, with perfect hair, lips, and stunning blue eyes. Edward was wearing a beanie and Ray bans and had his arm around her. My favorite crooked smile was splayed across his lips, while she was pouting as if he had prevented her from doing something. I knew that look; I had given it to him time and time again for so many different reasons over the years. I looked at the relationship status.

"In a relationship with Tanya Denali".

Taking a deep breath, I clicked on the delete button. The website asked me if I was sure if I wanted to delete him.

"Most definitely" I whispered, clicking on the "yes" button. In desperate need of a pick-me up, I clicked out of Facebook and double clicked my iTunes. I clicked on my "Favorites" playlist and immediately Drake's "Best I Ever Had" came on. I smiled and stood up, still in my towel, and started rapping along and grooving with Drake's song. When I heard a giggle at my door, I nearly dropped my towel.

"Alice! What the hell!" I whipped around and glared at her. She was holding two drinks and smiling brightly.

"I figured you'd like a little starter," she said, wiggling her eyebrows.

I happily took the glass from her and smelled it. "Sex on the beach! My favorite!" I responded, taking a long sip of the sinful concoction.

She nodded her head and smiled, "Drink up and get ready! We have concert tickets to pick up!" She spun around on her heel to leave the room and added, "And then maybe some boys later!"

I took another sip of my drink and smiled. I slipped on a pair of navy blue lacey boy shorts and a matching t-strap bra. I set my drink down my night stand and pulled on my skinny jeans. I picked up the soft cotton shirt, inspecting it, an eyebrow quirked in the air.

It was a racerback style tank, low cut, with thin, silver chains hanging along the neck line. One of Alice's own creations, no doubt. I slipped it on, immediately surprised by how comfortable it was. I sat on my bed and slipped on my heels, fastening a buckle around each ankle. I stood up, wobbling a little bit, for lack of balance, and slowly traipsed to the full length mirror. As much as I hated to admit it, Alice had done it again. The shirt fit me perfectly, showing just enough cleavage to be sexy. The jeans paired with the stilettos made my legs look miles long and well, skinny.

I picked up my drink from the stand and moved back to the bathroom to do my hair and make-up. I flipped my head over and towel dried my hair. Still flipped over, I worked a puff of mousse in my locks to give me some volume and add some wave. I flipped my hair back and stood upright. I ran my fingers through my bangs which were long and fringy, hanging in my eyes. I plugged in my hair dryer and turned it on and started drying my hair, giving it even more volume. Before I knew it, I had amazing sex hair. Alice would definitely be impressed when she saw me.

I pulled out my make-up bag and powdered my face and added a bit of bronzer to my cheeks. I whipped out a black eyeliner pencil and lined my eyes, and added some eye shadow giving me the sultry, smokey look. I dug around in the little bag before finding my favorite thing in the world: mascara. I coated one eye and then the other, and then repeated the process twice more. My eye lashes looked fuller and were long enough to touch my eyebrows. A dab of lip gloss and I was ready to go. I put my stuff away, chugged my drink (which had watered down a bit) and walked towards Alice's room.

"Ow, ow!" She catcalled when she saw me. "Who are you and what have you done with my Bella?" She asked.

I grinned hugely, "Oh, I put her away for the evening…. Or two." I winked at her and turned to head towards the kitchen. She followed after me, and I heard her chugging her drink behind me.

I placed the glass in the sink and looked at Alice. Again, she looked beyond amazing in a beautiful purple orchid colored dress. It wrapped around her neck halter style, and had a plunging neckline. The hemline came to mid-thigh and she was wearing a pair of killer silver stilettos that wrapped up her calve. She completed the ensemble with silver, dangly earrings.

"You look amazing, Ali." I told her.

She beamed at me, "Thanks! I made this last week" she said, motioning to her dress.

I shook my head, "You make the most amazing things. It's only a matter of time before things start happening for you, babe."

"Aw, thanks Bell!" She responded, pulling me into a hug. "Now, let's go get those concert tickets!"

I started to head out the door when I remembered I needed to get the radio guy's record. "We have to stop by the record store. I need to get that record."

"Yeah, sure, whatever - let's go!" She said, pushing me out the door.

We hailed a taxi and I gave him directions to the store. It was late, so the store was closed, but I had a key. I opened the door, disarmed the alarm, and ran to the back where the record was sitting. I grabbed it and hustled back to the front door, turning the alarm back on and locking the door behind me. I climbed into the taxi and Alice told him where we were going next.

Twenty minutes later we were at the radio station. Alice and I both walked up to the doors and asked the girl at the front desk where we could find Aiden from "The Box". She directed us to his office and we found it easy enough. I knocked on the door and he called us in.

I opened the door to be greeted by a handsome, young man. Blonde hair that screamed for my hands to be in it and sapphire blue eyes that took my breath away. Tan skin and well-built, he was casually dressed in a blue polo and dark jeans.

"You must be Bella." He said, standing to shake my hand.

Alice pushed me forward and I stumbled a bit in my heels. I took his hands and immediately noticed how warm they were.

"Uh, yeah. That's me." I stuttered out.

His eyes raked over my body, taking me in. It made me a little uneasy, but I pushed that feeling aside and stood up a little straighter and flashed him a killer smile.

"Here's that record you wanted." I said sweetly.

He returned my smile with one of his own and took the record from me, "Thanks so much for bringing this down. I've been itching for this Lupe Fiasco record." He set it down on his desk and pulled out an envelope. "I do believe these are yours." One of his eyebrows rose and he flashed me a devilish grin, his eyes never leaving mine.

I took the envelope from his fingers slowly, whispering a throaty "Thank you."

Alice cleared her throat, causing us to break eye contact and Aiden smiled at me again. "You ladies look dressed to kill. What ya'll getting into tonight?"

Alice piped in, "We planned on going to Roxy's. It's ladies night." She said wiggling her eyebrows up and down.

I turned around at her and looked at her confused. We _never _went to Roxy's. Especially not after the last time we were there and had twelve too many tequila shots and ended up dancing on the bar. She looked at me pleadingly and I just laughed at her.

I turned back to Aiden, "Yeah, Roxy's. Ummm, you should come by later if you can." I said boldly.

He grinned widely, "I think I might just do that. See you later Bella."

Alice grabbed a hold of my hand and pulled me out of the office and down the hall, finally busting through the front doors. We burst into a fit of giggles and hailed another taxi.

"5351 W Alabama. Club Roxy" Alice told the driver.

He pulled away from the radio station and I looked at Alice. "Please tell me why we're going to Roxy tonight." I asked.

"It was all I could think of! Besides, now we _have_ to go since you invited lover boy in there." She explained, motioning with her thumb back towards the radio station.

"Lover boy?" I asked her.

"Oh Bella, please! As if you couldn't tell he was eye fucking the shit out of you!" She squealed.

I shook my head and smiled at her in disbelief. "He was just being nice."

She smacked my arm lightly and said coyly, "I wish all men were nice like that."

I looked at her and we started giggling up a storm. The cab driver stopped in front of The Roxy, I paid the tab, and we climbed out. There was a line of people that wrapped around the side of the building, but Alice pulled me right up to the door.

"Hey Felix!" She squeaked and I eyed her suspiciously.

"Alice, baby. Where you been all my life?" He responded, his voice gruff but sexy.

She reached out and placed her small hand on his large chest. She stood up on her tippy toes to whisper something in his ear and he grinned wide enough I could see his molars. He picked up the red rope and let us walk in. We heard women behind us grumbling about it, but Alice just smiled and kissed Felix on the cheek before walking into the club, adding a bit of extra sway to her walk. I just smiled, shaking my head, and followed after her into the dark corridor with flashing lights.

I could hear the base jumping and I immediately started bobbing my head to the music and Alice grabbed my hand as we entered the club. Blue, red, and white lights were flashing, the dance floor was packed with bodies grinding on each other, and the deejay was up at his turn table, mixing music. I realized I recognized him from the record store and gave him a wave. He took a minute to recognize me and then smiled wide, waving back at me. Alice pulled me towards the bar and whipped out her wallet, yanking out her American Express card and grinned at me then at the bartender.

"Four lemon drops please!" She asked him, slapping the card on the bar. He gave a nod and a brilliant smile, took the card, and set to making the shots.

I smiled, "So, Alice. Who's Felix?" I asked coyly.

Her eyes immediately left mine and she became fascinated by a crumb on the bar.

"Alice! Tell me!"

She looked up at me bashfully and replied, "He's just a friend."

I guffawed, "Uh yeah, because _friends_ make you get all shy and bashful!"

She threw her hands up in the air, "Okay! Okay! You caught me! I like him!"

"Ali! That's great!" I exclaimed over the beating music, "But when did you meet him?"

She smiled, "We met at a coffee shop. We instantly hit it off and he told me worked here. We met a few times after that, but nothing really amounted from it."

"That's why you said we were coming to Roxy!" I shouted.

She smiled sheepishly, "Don't hate on me!"

The bartender set the shots in front of us, and went to give Alice her card back but she shook her head. "Start a tab, it's going to be a long night."

"Sure thing!" He said knowingly, taking the card and placing it up on a shelf of the bar.

Alice took a glass in each hand and motioned for me to do the same. I took a gulp, preparing myself for the sour but sweet sting of the vodka.

"Ready?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

I gave her a nod and raised my glass to cheers her, "Here's to tonight and Young Money, baby!" Our glasses clinked and we threw back the shots, one and then two, then following with the sugar covered lemon.

"Wooooweeee!" Alice exclaimed, laughing and turning to look out at the crowd of dancers.

I shook my head and took made a coughing sound. I felt the vodka burn the whole way down my throat and land in my stomach.

Alice flipped around, looked at me, and called the bartender back over. "Two sex on the beaches, please!"

The bartender smiled again and started to make the drinks.

I eyed Alice warily. She didn't normally drink like this, as she was usually considerate towards her size and her lack of alcohol tolerance. "Ali- what's up with the fish act tonight?" I asked.

She laughed, "Liquid courage baby!" nodding towards the door. I followed the direction her eyes were heading and immediately was greeted by Aiden. My stomach did a flip and I swallowed hard. I quickly turned away and found my drink sitting in front of me. I picked up my glass and sucked on the straw, happy for the comfort the fruity sweetness brought me.

Suddenly Alice squeaked, "Gotta go to the bathroom!" and she ran off.

"Alice wait!" I called after her, but my voice was lost in the music.

I felt a hand on the small of back and turned around to see who was touching me. I slopped a little of my drink onto the ground, and immediately flushed a deep pink color. My eyes traveled from the floor, up a pair of long, denim clad legs to a taut, black t-shirt covered broad chest, to beautiful, pink luscious lips that was tugged into a smile, finally resting on his bold sapphire eyes.

"Fancy meeting you here." He said, his smile broadening.

I laughed shyly, "Yeah, how about that?"

His hand had moved from my back to my hip and he squeezed it slightly. Again, my cheeks flushed pink at his touch and my heart was beating rapidly.

He leaned down and whispered into my ear, "I'm getting a beer and then we're going to dance."

I started to shake my head vehemently, but he just smiled and nodded his head slowly, his sly, devilish smile causing my blood to course. He turned to the bar and ordered a beer and was handed a bottle of Budweiser. He paid the tab, took a long swig of his beer, flashed me a grin, and grabbed my hand. I barely had time to set my drink down before he dragged me out onto the dance floor.

Young Money's "Bedrock" came on and I started to laugh uncontrollably as Aiden pulled me closer to him.

Again he whispered in my ear, "Well, this song seems suitable considering the circumstances."

I smiled, half listening to his deep voice, half interested in how his lips had grazed my ear and how I had felt a shock clean down to my center. His hand found mine and he twirled me around so that my rear was flush against his front. My hips started to groove to the beat and Aiden's hands rested on top of them, his head at the crook of my neck. I brought my hand up to clasp on his neck, pulling him even closer, grinding our bodies tighter together. The alcohol was clearly working its way through my system and I silently thanked Alice in my mind. I continued grinding my ass into Aiden, surprised by my own brazenness. Something else had taken over inside me - as if the day's events had released some inner vixen inside me.

I turned around, continuing to move my hips and singing the words. Aiden's hands moved with me, still rested on my hips, pulling me closer to him. Our heads were connected and there was a light sheen of sweat forming on both our bodies. I slightly moved my head to the side, burying my face in his chest, inhaling deeply. I was overwhelmed by his scent, which was a mixture of his cologne, soap, and something earthy. My hands rested on his chest on either side of my head, and slowly moved around to his back. I could feel his muscles tighten underneath my hands and his huge hands moved up from my hips to my side and finally rested in my hair, pulling lightly causing my head to lift up from his chest. I smiled at him and returned the grin, our noses now touching. My heart picked up a beat as I could smell the beer on his breath. Typically, I hated the smell of beer, but for some reason, on Aiden, it was erotic and just made me want him more. My hands moved up to his neck and I twisted some of his sandy blonde hair in my hands, tugging ever so lightly. He let out a guttural growl that I felt in my own body and he leaned into my ear again.

"You are so sexy." His voice said, husky and full of lust.

I shook my head, avoiding eye contact. I was the furthest thing from sexy - he was lucky I hadn't tripped yet in my heels.

He continued, "Yeah, you are." He nipped at my ear and his tongue grazed my ear lobe, causing me to giggle. He barked out a laugh in response and grabbed my hand, pulling me off the dance floor and back to the bar where our drinks were sitting.

I took mine and sipped it through the straw. "Oh! A cherry!" I exclaimed, overly excited about my find. I pulled out the cherry but the stem and slipped into my mouth, chewing on it, emitting a moan. I just loved cherries. I looked up and saw Aiden staring at me, his eyes dark with desire and I nearly choked on the cherry in my throat. I gave him an apologetic smile, but he just brought his beer up to his lips and took a long swallow, causing his Adam's apple to bob up and down. For some reason, that just turned me on further.

I felt someone poke my side and I squeaked. I turned around and found myself face to face with a tiny little pixy. "Alice! Where have you been?"

Her cheeks were flushed and she had a huge smile on her face. "Busy." She giggled in her drunken stupor which caused me to giggle as well. "Looks like you've been busy too." She said nodding towards Aiden.

I shrugged my shoulders, "Meh, maybe." I bumped my hip into her side and she nearly fell over, causing us to burst into a fit of laughter again.

Then Aiden spoke up, "Alright ladies, I think it's time to get ya'll home."

I looked at Alice and raised an eyebrow.

She shook her head, "You go! I'm going to stay. There's some people from one of my classes. I'll go hang with them."

"Are you sure?" I asked. If she didn't go home with me, that meant that I was going home with Aiden. Alone.

She nodded her head, pulled me into a hug, and kissed my cheek and whispered in my ear, "Go get 'em tiger!"

I laughed, "Shut up Alice. I'll see you later! Let me know if you need anything!"

"Yeah, yeah, get outta here!" She yelled, turning to the bar and ordering another drink. I turned around to Aiden.

"Guess it's just us." I said simply.

"Can't say I'm disappointed" he responded, his voice husky.

He took my hand and led me out of the club. I turned around to give Alice a wave and she gave me the thumbs up sign. I laughed and turned around to keep walking without falling over. As we left the club, I waved to Felix.

"See ya Felix!" I said, and then added, "Be good to Alice!"

His face turned bright pink and he smiled at me nervously. I just giggled and continued to let Aiden to pull me towards the street. He hailed a cab and we climbed in. I gave the driver directions to my apartment and he sped off towards home.

That was when I became consciously aware of how incredibly close I was sitting to Aiden. And that our hands were still together. And that he was staring at me. Rather intently.

"What?" I asked, biting my lip, a bit put off by the staring

"Sorry. I just can't take my eyes off your lips." He responded. "They look so… delicious."

I gulped down some air and squeaked out, "Thanks."

He smiled that devilish grin, "You're welcome."

Aside from a few laughs and side-ways glances, we were quiet for the rest of the trip home. The cabby pulled into my apartment complex and I started to pull out cash to pay for the taxi.

"I got it." Aiden voiced.

"Oh, um. Okay."

I climbed out of the taxi, but not without hearing the taxi driver say to Aiden, "No glove, no love son."

I whipped around, my face no doubt the color of a tomato and bit my lip. I heard Aiden laugh and say, "Thanks." Then I felt his hand in mine and I started to walk towards my apartment.

We got to the front door and I pulled out my keys to unlock the door. I stopped and looked up at him. "Do you want to come in?" I asked shyly.

"Please." His voice sounded strained.

I pushed open the door and kicked off my heels in the front hallway. I walked in further and motioned Aiden inside. "Well, this is home."

"Looks cozy." He said, coming closer to me. I started to back up and came to an abrupt stop when I felt a wall behind me. Aiden continued coming closer, his body flush against mine. His eyes bored down into mine and again, I was nearly frightened by the intensity in his eyes. His hands found my hips again, squeezing slightly. His nose grazed mine and I inhaled sharply. I bit my lip again and he growled.

"You have no idea how incredibly sexy that is." He murmured before lowering his lips to mine.

To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I had expected soft, warm kisses and instead I was greeted by his tongue down my throat. I nearly gagged, but thankfully he pulled away. He started placing sloppy kisses up and down my face and I felt like I was going to need a towel to wipe his spit off of me. I had never been so turned off in my life.

"Um, Aiden?" I started slowly, "I think that maybe I should get to bed. I have class in the morning." I didn't really, but I needed to get him out of my apartment.

He grunted and tugged at my ear with his teeth. "Is that an invitation?"

I nearly threw up at his question, but recovered quickly. I shook my head, "Sorry. Alice and I have a strict no-boys policy during the week." I started to push him away, back towards the door, but he advanced me.

His hands pushed me back up against the wall and his eyes bored into mine, "You're such a cock tease."

"I think you should leave now." I responded pointedly.

He grinned, his smile no longer sexy, "I'll leave when I get what I want."

At this, I started to panic. I took a deep breath, pushed him slightly away, and then kneed him in the groin area. He howled in pain and doubled over.

"I suggest you leave now, or I'll call the police." I said, my hands up to protect me.

"Bitch." He choked out. "You're going to pay for that." He lunged for me and I screamed.

I started to think of my escape plan when I heard giggling and a man's voice outside the door. Aiden froze in his spot. At that moment, Alice and Felix bounded through the door. Immediately, Felix went into bouncer mode, crossing his arms at his chest and standing between me and Aiden.

"Bella, everything okay?" Alice asked, the smile wiped clean of her face.

I took a deep breath, "Yeah. Aiden was just leaving."

I looked at Felix and he seemed to understand my plea. He started over towards Aiden, "Come on you piece of shit, get out." Felix easily pushed him out of the apartment and Alice came over to console me.

I fell into a crumpled heap on the floor and started crying.

Alice wrapped her arms around me and held me tightly, "Shh, baby. It's okay. I'm here."

I heard Felix come back in. "He's gone. I'm pretty sure he won't ever be back." He said in a gruff, confident tone.

"Thanks" I mumbled.

Alice stood up and walked towards Felix, "Thanks, but um, maybe you should go?"

He nodded, looking a little disappointed. "Sure, sure. I'll call you tomorrow okay?" He bent down to kiss her on the cheek and she beamed up at him.

"Okay." She saw him out and came back over to me. "Come on honey; let's get you in the shower."

I stumbled, ecstatic at the idea of washing that creep off me, towards the bathroom. I left the door open, in case something happened. I stripped my clothes off and stepped into the shower. The hot water flowed over my body and I grabbed a washcloth, poured a dollop of body wash into it, and started scrubbing. Hard. Especially my neck and face. I felt dirty and grimy. I washed my hair and stood under the hot water for a little while longer, letting it soothe my body.

I stepped out and into a fluffy warm towel and dried myself off. I slowly walked towards my bedroom and to my dresser and pulled out a t-shirt and shorts. I slipped them on and into my bed. I was almost asleep when I felt Alice slip into bed beside me, smelling of soap and her shampoo. She pulled me into her arms and I wept.

"It's okay baby, you're safe now." She cooed.

I nodded my head, unable to speak. I cried for what felt like hours- tears for many reasons. For Aiden, for my parents, for Jake, and for Edward. I cried like I hadn't cried before, letting all my emotions take over. Alice continued to hold me, rubbing my back and soothing me with words of safety and encouragement. Eventually, my body, weak for crying, succumbed to sleep and I fell into a deep, dreamless slumber.

**So, Chapter two is over-- whatcha think? Lay it on me! Thanks dears!  
xoxo**

**Brandinm05  
**


	3. Hangovers and Sunburns

**Disclaimer: This is all mine-- 'cept the characters :)**

Chapter 3: Hangovers and Sunburns

I rolled over in my bed, my head thumping and my mouth feeling like I had chewed on cotton balls all night. The sun was streaming through my windows and I immediately hated my decision to choose the bedroom facing the East. I pulled the covers over my head and groaned. Then I smelled it.

"Bella! Breakfast is ready!" Alice called from the kitchen.

I groaned again at the loud noise, but threw the blankets back. I slowly climbed out of bed and stumbled in the vague direction of the kitchen, bouncing off the hallway walls as I went. I found Alice standing in front of the stove, flipping pancakes and frying bacon. On the breakfast bar sat two glasses of orange juice. I plopped down on one of stools and rested my head in my hands.

"How are you so perky right now?" I mumbled.

Alice laughed, "I drank some Gatorade and took some aspirin before bed last night. I was going to ask you if you wanted any, but you were nearly passed out when I came in the room last night."

"Oh." I took my glass of orange juice and drank some of it, happy for the way it made my mouth feel. "Thanks, by the way for last night." I finished.

Alice flipped some pancakes on a plate, added a few strips of bacon, and sat the plate in front of me. She stared at me, "You know I'm here for you, right?"

Her question took me off guard. "Of course, Ali." I picked up my fork and knife and started cutting my pancakes into small pieces.

"Okay. Then you know that I know that last night was about a lot more than just that creep, Aiden." She said matter-of-factly.

I continued applying butter and then maple syrup, blatantly ignoring her statement.

"Bella! Talk to me!" She sounded anxious.

I set my silverware down with a clink and I brought my eyes up to hers, "Look, I'm just a little upset about Edward, okay? I'll get over it, I promise. And I feel bad for not seeing my family lately. I miss them."

She sighed, flipping some pancakes onto another plate and coming around to sit beside me. "I figured. Look, I was thinking that maybe we'd go up to Forks in August for a few weeks."

I started to tell her I couldn't afford it but she shook her head, "No Bella, I'm paying. Consider it an early birthday present."

I picked up my fork and stabbed my pancake pieces, bringing it to my mouth, and chewed glumly.

Alice huffed, "Bella, come on! You miss your father, and I miss my parents. Plus I've already bought the tickets, so you can't get out of it."

I groaned, "Ugh, Alice! I thought I told you to consider me in these types of decisions."

"I did! I even talked to Charlie! He's so excited that he's going to see you Bella! Besides, it's your birthday present! You're not even supposed to know what you're getting!" She exclaimed, quite happy with her reasoning.

"Finneeee." I answered her, chewing on a few more pieces of pancake. "These are really good, Ali."

She grinned, chewing on her own pancakes. "Thanks! I learned from the best." She looked at me and elbowed me in the side. I grinned back at her knowing full well she was talking about me.

We ate the rest of the pancakes in silence and then I did the dishes since Alice cooked. She had gone into her bedroom. When I was finished with the dishes, I went to find her, her door was wide open and she was sitting at her computer, staring at the monitor.

I slowly approached her, "Alice? Are you okay?" I asked.

She quickly exited the page she was looking at and whipped around to face me, "Yeah, great! Just facebooking, you know!" She looked overly happy and I was instantly suspicious of her actions.

"Alice?" I questioned again.

She groaned, her face crestfallen. "It was Jasper."

I was immediately at her side, rubbing her back. He did this every once in a while, messaging or emailing her. She'd finally be heading in a good direction, with a guy she liked, and he would send her something that would throw her through a loop.

"What did he say this time?" I asked easily.

Alice sighed and clicked on her facebook page again, pulling up the message box. The latest message was indeed from Jasper. She clicked it open, and moved so that I could read it. This was typical behavior for us, not invasion of privacy. We'd been doing it since the first time Jasper had re-entered her life via Facebook. I read the message:

_Alice,_

_The days go by and I still can't stop thinking about you. About the way your smile brightened everyone's days. The way the scent of you filled the room and I would inhale it, it was the most heavenly thing I'd ever smelled. The way when you sneezed, you'd squeak a bit, lol. Most importantly, the way your kisses made me feel like I was the only person in your world._

_Alice, I'm sorry. I'm so incredibly sorry. Please give me another chance. I swear I'll do right by you. I want to come visit you in Houston. Please say yes. Please._

_I love you, _

_Jasper_

I closed my eyes and scratched my head a bit before thinking about saying what I wanted to say. I turned around to find Alice on her bed, under her covers, hugging her polar bear tightly to her chest. I slowly walked over to her bed and sat beside her, her back to me.

"Alice, you know you can't see him right?" I asked her easily, but she knew it was rhetorical question, so she didn't answer. "He swears he'll change, but he won't. Besides, like your mama said, 'once a cheater, always a cheater'".

She nodded her head and rolled over to face me. Her face looked strained, as if she was fighting some terrible internal battle. "I know … I just ... I wonder how things would be _if _I did give him that chance, you know? I mean, if you think about it, I didn't even give him a chance to defend himself."

"Alice! We've been through this! There is nothing he could have said that could have remedied things. He's bad news, sweetheart." I did my best to sound forceful but caring at the same time. She knew how I felt about Jasper and his wayward ways. Honestly, if I thought he really would change, I would happily tell her to go back to him. But I knew better. "Change" wasn't a word that the Cullen boys expressed frequently, if ever.

She groaned again, twisting her face into her pillow and smacked it. "I hate this!"

"I know, honey. I do too." Then I felt a small smile come across my face. "I know what will make you feel better."

"Shopping?" She mumbled.

I laughed, "It's always shopping for you, isn't it?"

She nodded her head fervently and I laughed again, "Well, I was personally thinking about something that was about 6'2, cropped brown hair, pretty eyes, and an incredibly sexy voice, but if you'd rather go shopping, then…." I trailed off, smirking.

She looked at me, her mouth twitched to the side. "I suppose I could call Felix. Maybe he'd like to get lunch or something?" She leapt up from her bed and grabbed her phone, her fingers going a mile a minute on the keypad. She gracefully walked back towards me and sat on the bed.

"Thanks Bella, I needed that." At that moment, her phone vibrated and she smiled shyly as she read the text. "He's coming to pick me up around 11:30." She glanced at her alarm clock, "Oh no! That's an hour away! How will I ever be ready in time?" She stood up and frantically started pacing the room.

I laughed and grabbed her arm, shoving her towards the bathroom. "The first step is showering, my dear."

She laughed and closed the door behind her.

"Alice" I whispered to myself as I shook my head. She was a bit chaotic at times, but she completed me. I went back to my room and flipped on my iTunes, Band of Skulls began to play through my speakers and I started to pick up my room. I was typically a clean person, but I went through periods in which clothes, shoes, towels, books, and such would litter my floor and bed. By the time I had finished putting everything away, three more songs had played and I heard Alice in the hallway complaining.

I walked out to find her, but I could only hear her. I finally reached the closet and I shoved my head in it. "Alice, what are you bickering about?" I asked.

She immerged from the closet holding an emerald green sundress that would compliment her skin tone perfectly. "I can't find my shoes to go with this!" She complained, holding up the sundress. She was clad in a towel and her hair was soaking wet.

"Oh, you mean the strappy, brown sandals we picked up from Armani Exchange?" I asked, and she nodded her head. "Those are in your bedroom, under your bed, _still _in the box."

She squealed, running towards her room, "Thanks Bella! You're a lifesaver!" she called over her shoulder.

I followed her into her bedroom and plopped down in the middle of her bed. I played with the hem of my pants while she got ready, slipping on her sundress and digging for her shoes. She finally found them and slipped them on her tiny feet.

My voice broke the comfortable silence, "So, where you going?"

She flashed a bright smile at me, "I'm not sure! He won't tell me. He just told me to wear something comfortable."

I fell off the bed laughing at that statement and she just rolled her eyes at me.

"What? You know I'm most comfortable in heels and a dress!" She exclaimed.

I continued rolling on the floor laughing, finally spitting out, "I hope he takes you hiking!"

She huffed and ran over to me, seizing my sides, tickling me to death. I continued laughing until I could barely breathe. "Stop Alice! I'm going to pee my pants!" I screamed above the laughing.

She stopped and gracefully walked towards the bathroom, "I told you I'd get you back Swan," her face smug as she walked away.

Twenty minutes later, I heard the doorbell ring and ran to answer it. Alice was still applying her make- up. I opened the door and was greeted by Felix, clad in khaki shorts and a green polo. I wondered if they had color coordinated, or if it was just intuition between the two of them.

"Come on in!" I said, making a sweeping gesture with my hand.

"Hey Bella!" he said, walking inside. "Did you sleep alright?"

I avoided his eyes, staring at the floor, and gave him a small nod. "Thanks by the way, for last night."

His finger lifted my chin to look him in the eyes, "I promise you Bella - he is never coming back here. You're safe." His voice was full of conviction.

I felt a tear spring to the corner of my eye, "Thanks. Really, I mean it."

He just shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal, "Please. It's my job to take care of my girl's best friend, right?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Your 'girl', huh?"

He grinned from ear to ear, "Well, I'm hoping she will be."

I immediately was won over by his honesty. "I like you Felix." I said matter of factly.

At that moment, Alice entered the room. "Well, are you done with the twenty questions now, mom?" She asked me playfully.

"Please, we've only just begun!" I eyed Felix who all of sudden looked rather bashful. Feeling sorry for him, I added, "But we'll finish it later, since you two have a date!"

Alice took his hand and I heard him murmur, "You look amazing."

She smiled and tossed a goodbye over her shoulder before leaving the apartment.

I wasn't feeling very hungry since I had a big breakfast, so I figured I could deal with some more cleaning. I flipped on the stereo in the living room to a random station and immediately set to sweeping the floors and dusting. Cleaning helped me keep my mind off things. When I finished the living room, I moved on to the kitchen, putting clean dishes away and cleaning the stove. I started mopping the floor when I heard _his _voice come from the living room. I dropped the mop and my heart sped up a bit, but then I realized it was from the radio. I quickly ran to the stereo, stumbling a bit on the carpet, and flipped the station over.

"I will _not_ be listening to you anymore," I said absentmindedly to the stereo.

I moved back to the kitchen, mopping the floor and was finally satisfied when it sparkled a bit. I then moved to the refrigerator and started throwing away things that had expired. Not too many things had to go, just a carton of cottage cheese and some moldy cauliflower. We were usually very good about buying just enough groceries to get us through a few weeks. I tossed the expired food into the trash and yanked it out of the trashcan, tying it at the top. I slipped on some flip flops and took the trash to the curb, knowing the trash man would be around to pick it up in the morning. As I passed the pool it called to me, begging me to jump in. The sun was high and there was hardly a cloud in the sky.

"Perfect" I said, going back into my apartment.

I went back to my bedroom and slipped on my navy blue bikini and then applied some sun block. I grabbed my iPod, my latest literature book, a towel, my cell phone, and my sunglasses and I was set.

I walked towards the pool, happy that our complex was for adults only. I wasn't much for kids, especially little ones who like to splash and pee in the pool. I threw my stuff on a sun bathing chair and dived into the sparkling, blue water. It felt absolutely amazing, instantly cooling my overheated body. I surfaced and swam to the other side of the pool to climb out. I pulled the chair out so that it was flat and laid my towel on it before climbing on top. I put my sunglasses on my face, plugged my ear buds in my ears, switching it to classical, and opened my lit book.

"_Wild Swans"_ was required by the English department, as well as the Education department, as the program demanded a well-rounded curriculum. The book wasn't awful and in fact I had found it quite interesting to read about three different generations of women in China, starting at the Feudal period and lasting up until more recent times. Before I knew it, I was fully engrossed in the book, turning the pages every few moments. I was what you would call a "speed" reader, and it always drove my classmates and friends nuts that I could finish an eight-hundred page book in just under three hours, and still recall page numbers and quotes. It definitely helped with school, as the classes required us to do monumental amounts of reading (sometimes fifty to seventy-five pages a night) plus outside reading in other various books. The program was difficult, but I loved it and I honestly didn't mind the reading.

After about an hour, I rolled over onto my belly and set the book down. I was nearly finished with it and decided it wouldn't kill me to take a breather and t ake a nap. I pulled my sunglasses off and laid my hands on either side of my body. Within moments, the sandman had lulled me off to dream world.

I awoke with a start when I heard a loud splash in the pool. I flipped over quickly to be greeted by a small pixie peering at me, and a tan man swimming in the pool beside her.

"What time is it?" I grumbled, still not fully awake.

Alice pulled out her cell phone, "Nearly three o'clock."

I groaned, "I've been out here for almost three hours."

"Yeah" she said, "I can see that."

I groaned, realizing that she was talking about pink sunburn I was now sporting. "Great, now I'll look like a lobster for the concert tonight." I whined.

Alice giggled, "At least it'll be dark!"

I gave her the stink eye and grabbed a hold her wrists, dragging her towards the pool.

"Bella! No!" She screamed, "No! No! Ahhh!" She went in with a tiny splash.

She screamed when I finally tossed her into the pool. Felix's laugh filled the air, as it was deep and seemed to reverberate off non-existent walls.

When Alice resurfaced, she spit water out at me and grabbed a hold of my ankle, pulling me off balance and back into the pool unfortunately. I went in with a huge splash, unlike Alice. I resurfaced and growled at her, before swimming towards her and dunking her head underwater.

The water play went on for fifteen more minutes, until both of us screamed truce and I climbed back out of the pool. Alice stayed behind, floating in the water. She didn't hear Felix swim up behind her, and it scared the living day lights out of her when he picked her up and threw her across the water.

When she surfaced, she swam at him and playfully hit him in the chest. They were all smiles and giggles (which was rather awkward to see Felix do) and it made me instantly jealous. They were happy.

I grabbed my towel and my stuff and headed towards the apartment. "I'm going to make dinner, ya'll staying?"

Felix called out to me while trying to dunk Alice's head underwater. "Whatcha making?"

I turned around and contemplated what we had in our fridge and freezer. "Hmmm, I was thinking a Chicken and Rice bake with cheese and broccoli." Both their eyes got wide with hunger and they nodded their heads so emphatically that water splashed around. I laughed at them and headed inside to start dinner and apply aloe to my now burnt skin.

I ran into the bathroom to inspect my skin and noticed that it wasn't nearly as bad as I imagined. A little pink on the shoulders, collar bone, nose, and cheeks. I applied some aloe and felt instant relief as the cool gel seemed to suck the heat out of my burnt skin. I then went into my room to throw on some shorts and one of Jacob's old t-shirts. Even after two years and numerous washes, it still managed to smell like him.

Once in the kitchen, I immediately set to work on dinner. I pulled out the broccoli, Velvetta cheese, milk, rice, and chicken, and turned the oven on to preheat it. After preparing the chicken and rice, I smoothed it out into a casserole baking dish, and added the cheesy sauce on top. I dipped my finger into the pot and licked the cheese off.

"Mmm." I moaned. "So good."

I dumped the rest of the cheese sauce over the rice, stirred in some broccoli, smoothed it out, and placed it in the oven to bake. I then started preparing a salad, pulling out the lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, green and yellow peppers, and cheese. I cut up the pieces and diced the carrots, throwing them into a large salad bowl. I popped a tomato in my mouth, enjoying the sweet taste. I then set to making a homemade vinaigrette dressing that I knew Alice would love.

A half hour later, the timer went off and I pulled the cheesy chicken and rice bake out of the oven. I ran out to the pool and exclaimed that dinner was ready. Alice was lounging on a chair, soaking in the sun, while Felix was doing laps around the pool. Wrapping themselves in towels, they followed me into the kitchen and both inhaled deeply.

"Bella, that smells phenomenal!" Felix said, his voice laced with hunger.

Alice turned to him, "You haven't had real food 'til you've had Bella's cooking."

Felix smiled and I blushed bright pink.

"It's not that great, Ali." I mumbled, grabbing dishes and forks.

Alice yanked the dishes and silverware out of my hands and began placing them at the table. "Yeah right" she said, mockingly. "We both know that I've gained like, thirty pounds from your cooking."

I looked at her bug-eyed, "Shut up Ali! You have not!"

She giggled, "I know… but I should have!"

Our easy banter continued during dinner, over the exclamations of how good dinner was, and how the chicken was so tender, and the rice so cheesy. We all enjoyed our salads and Alice was being overly sweet when she said that my vinaigrette was the best in Texas. Funnily enough, Felix agreed. I just shook my head and enjoyed the company and the flattery.

By the time dinner was finished, and the dishes were washed and put away, Alice said it was time for Felix to leave.

She eyed him, a bit of mischief behind her smile and declared, "We have a concert to attend!"

A smile broke out across my face and I squealed, running back to my bedroom to change and allowing Alice to give Felix a proper goodbye.

I heard the front door close moments later and I smiled to myself. I was genuinely happy to see that Alice was happy with someone other than Jasper. I was also relieved to learn that Felix was a very trustworthy guy and that he understood Alice and her crazy ways. The way she looked at him was as if he was the last man on earth, and his eyes were constantly twinkling when he spoke to her.

I fell back on my bed and groaned. "When am I going to meet _my_ Felix?" I whined to myself.

Alice came into my room, "Well, _that_ Felix is spoken for; however maybe tonight at the concert we'll meet someone new for you!" She was overly happy and bouncy as she moved about my room, humming to herself.

"Come on Bella! You need to shower!" She pulled me up off the bed by my hands and led me to the bathroom. She pushed me in and I set to work on my typical bathing ritual. Within ten minutes, I was shaved, shampooed, conditioned, and washed. I wrapped a towel around me and skipped to my room. I nearly tripped on the carpet but I didn't care, since I was overwhelmed with the prospect of actually meeting Drake, the man of my dreams.

I dried off, applying a cool, verbena bean oil based lotion to my body in hopes of preventing peeling. I pulled on a matching black cotton bra and underwear set, slipped into my BKE's and pulled the tank top over my head. I stepped over to the mirror and gave myself an approving look. Despite the major lack of flair, I looked good. The tank top was tight against my chest, making me feel larger than I actually was, and my BKE jeans hugged the curves of my ass and belled out a tiny bit at the bottom, balancing me out.

I padded down to the bathroom, and did the same thing I had done last night to my hair- applying mousse and blowing it out to be big and "concert" ready. I applied light make up, focusing on my eyes. I walked to the closet and pulled out my purple high top Chucks, slid them on my feet, and then went in search of Alice.

I found her floating around her room, pulling on something, taking it off, pulling on something else, and then pulling it off to put on something else once again. I raised an eyebrow and plopped down on her bed.

She whined, "I can't find anything to wear!"

I laughed, "Alice! You've put on at least three presentable outfits in the past two minutes!"

She sighed, "I knowwwww! But nothing screamed 'wear me to a concert!'".

I laughed again and started rifling through the clothes that were sprawled all over her room. I pulled out a red blouse with a flower appliqué on the back and was tight just under her bust line, and showed a bit of her midriff. I then found a pair of light wash skinny jeans with holes in the knees and other various places and handed them to her.

"Put these on." I told her.

She looked at me warily and I just laughed. I then strolled to the closet and pulled out her purple, red, and pink high top Nike's and tossed them at her.

She stared at me for a second, as if she didn't know who I was.

"Well come on! Get dressed, or we're gonna be late!" I said excitedly.

She slipped on the shirt and jeans, and pulled on her sneakers. She slowly approached her full length mirror and gasped.

"You…" She stumbled. "This.." She stumbled again. She turned around to face me. "This is perfect!" She squealed.

I sighed, and put my hands on my hips. "Well duh. I learned from the best." I said with a wink.

Alice's twinkling laugh filled the air and soon I found myself in a fit of giggles.

She looped her arm through mine, grabbed her clutch, and pulled me towards the door. "Young Money awaits us, my dear!"

"Hang on!" I said. I raced back to my room and grabbed my cell phone, camera, and of course, the concert tickets. I came back into the living room and looked at her, "Now we can go!"

"Well then, come on!" She urged me, pulling me out the door.

I laughed again, overcome with a feeling that I hadn't had in a while. Hope.

**A/N: Thanks for tuning into another segment of _Fearless_ folks. For those of you whom have been reading, thank you. Please, keep doing it! But uhhh, leave me a review, k? Thanks! Endless love to my amazing beta, _Endlesslywaiting. _You're my hero :) **


	4. Drizzy Drake and Dreams

**Disclaimer: SM owns the characters, I'm just playin with em :)**

**Chapter Four- Drizzy Drake and Dreams**

We climbed into our taxi and directed him towards the area where the concert was being held. We had at least twenty minutes to talk, so I figured it would be a good time to question Alice.

"So, Alice … How was your date?" I asked in an easy tone.

She smiled, "Amazing. He's the guy sweetest ever!"

I rolled my eyes, but gave her a grin. "Well, tell me about it!" I exclaimed.

She giggled, "Well." She scooted into the seat of the taxi and took my hand and squealed, "He asked me to be his girlfriend!"

I laughed, "And you said?"

She rolled her eyes, "I said yes of course. He's so amazing Bella!"

I agreed with her. "I know, I really like him for you, Ali. He seems great."

With that she went to discuss their date, "Did you notice that we matched? Oh my God, we are so cute together!" Her eyes got all dreamy and she sighed before continuing, "Anyway, he took me to Smith and Wollensky's for lunch, which was amazing. I hadn't had a steak that good in ages. And then he took me on a walk down by the waterfront and we found a bench and he just asked me to be his girlfriend and I was so happy with him, right then and there that I couldn't say no!" Her words flew out of her mouth as quickly as bullets from a gun.

As she spoke, I was sure to give the tell-tale signs that I was listening. I raised my eyebrows at Smith and Wollensky, as that's a hundred dollar meal. I swooned along with her when she told me about the walk by the water, and I sighed happily when she told me about him asking her to be exclusive. It was so very perfect.

"It sounds amazing, Alice. Really." I'd gone from semi-jealous to full blown jealousy, but I hid that away. I wanted her to know that I was happy for her.

"Thanks Bell, I really really appreciate it. And thanks so much for encouraging me to ask him out earlier. If I hadn't, who knows where we'd be?" She pulled me into a little sideways hug and snuggled into my side.

"I'm really happy you're down here with me, Ali." I admitted.

She agreed, "Me too. God knows what would have happened if I had stayed up in Washington!"

At that, my phone started buzzing and I pulled it out. I read the caller-id.

_Jacob._

I flipped open the phone, "JAKE!"

His deep, rumbling laugh echoed in my ear, "Hiya Bells. How ya doing?"

"I'm great; I just really miss my best friend who hasn't visited me in over year." I responded, my tone mockingly serious.

He barked out a laugh, "I know, I know. I'm a terrible person! But hey, I kind of wanted to talk about something serious." His tone immediately changed and I began to worry.

"Is everything okay?" I immediately began worrying at Charlie or Billy.

"Sure, sure. Everything is fine up here. But look, I've been thinking. I don't know if we can be friends anymore." He said it so matter-of-factly that my heart immediately dropped.

I sat there, stunned and unable to speak.

"Bella?" he spoke in the phone, "Hellllooo, earth to Bella!" He started laughed, "I wasn't being serious, you know that right?"

Immediately, relief rushed over me, "Jake! You can't say those things!"

"You started it! You emailed me to brag about your concert tickets! Now, _that_ was just rude," he mocked being hurt.

"Hey buddy, payback's a bitch. You remember last summer when you called saying you got Sugarland tickets and you were taking the girl instead of me? Hmmm?" I asked, playing into the game.

He scoffed, "Aw, come on Bells! She's my woman!"

I scoffed in return, "And what am I? Chopped liver?"

He laughed, "Alright, alright - I get it. Anyway, I just wanted to call and tell you to have fun tonight and be careful."

I laughed, "No worries little buddy, I'll be just fine." I assured him.

"Sure, sure. Hey, you think you could get me something autographed by Lil Wayne?" He asked quickly.

"I'll see what I can do! I gotta go, we're almost to the arena. Love ya, Jake! I'll send you pictures later!" I said hurriedly.

"Love ya too Bells! Talk to you later!" With that, the phone call ended and we pulled into the arena.

People were everywhere, pulling in and getting out of their cars. Some people were hanging out, talking and drinking, while others were running to get inside the area. We paid our cab fare and I pulled out my camera and started snapping pictures of everything. I pulled Alice up to me and snapped one of the two of us and then headed towards the entrance. At the gate, a lady handed us back stage passes to wear around our neck and told us that we needed to be backstage ten minutes before the concert ended. We nodded our heads; both feeling a bit dazed and then pushed through the crowd.

We made our way to the front of the crowd, pushing through people of all shapes and sizes and we finally found our concert seats. Dead center of the stage. The stage had various spotlights pointed towards it, lighting it up and there were several various instruments sitting on the stage as well: A set of drums, several guitars, and several microphones. I pulled out my camera and started snapping pictures and took one of Alice staring at her back stage pass.

We proceeded to take photographs of anything and everything until the concert started. The people around us were all as excited as we were, jumping up and down and yelling for Young Money to start. Some of them smelled like weed, while others reeked of alcohol. All the men seemed to be dressed in baggy jeans and big shirts, ball caps tipped to one side. Women were dressed… or rather not dressed in barely there dresses and heels. Alice and I snickered at them, so glad we didn't look that desperate. A few women shot us nasty looks when they saw our backstage passes. One guy even offered us $500 for them. We ignored them all.

Eventually, they turned the lights off and sparks started shooting out from the stage. Alice and I squealed as the rappers of Young Money came across the stage. Girls screamed their love for the various rappers, and many swooned as Lil Wayne graced the stage, moving right into their first song, "Every Girl in the World". Alice and I were singing along to the song as he moved up and down the stage, touching various hands up in the air. I screamed insanely loud when Drake came onto the stage during his verse. He was wearing jeans, a tight black t-shirt, and a black and purple zip-up hoodie, with the hood flipped over his head. On his feet were purple Nike's. He came to the middle of the stage and the words just rolled off his tongue. I sang along with him, moving my hips to his voice. I stretched my hand up far as I could as he came closer to the front of the stage. When his hand grasped mine, I swear I felt a shock. He flashed me a brilliant smile and winked. My other hand reached for Alice's, as I nearly fell over. J Millz took over in his verse and Drake moved back on the stage. I turned to Alice and squealed and she threw her arms around my neck.

"Oh my god! He… We…" I couldn't talk.

Alice just nodded her head emphatically, "You touched him, Bella!"

The song ended and they moved onto the next one, "Girl I Got You". Shanell took over next with "Play In My Band". I giggled at how much I related to the song. I sang the words of the song as she walked across the stage, dancing and swaying her hips. She was curvy and luscious and looked daringly sex in her leather pants and corset top. Lil Weezy took over and sang as he crossed the stage, getting the audience into the song further as he screamed the words to the song. I continued singing, feeling a bit braver. I stared at Drake, hoping he'd notice me. Surprisingly, he did. When his eyes met mine, I felt another shock surge through me and I felt it clear down to my center. I sang the chorus to him and swayed my hips. I know I'm just an innocent little white girl, but I did my best to make him think otherwise. He grinned widely at me, surprising me even more. He was watching my every move. _Me! _ Me: plain Jane, mousy little Bella. He seemed entranced as my lips moved along to the words.

After that song, Lil Wayne went through and introduced everyone. People went crazy for the different singers of the group and when he said Drake, I hollered as loud as I could. I pulled my camera out and snapped picture after picture.

"I'm Goin In" started playing and the crowd went wild as Lil Wayne opened the song. I however, saved my screams for when Drake brought his beautiful, luscious lips up to the mic and started singing. He came towards me and eyed me the entire time he was singing the song. I grinned widely, completely stunned by what was happening. As the song finished, he again moved back towards the back of the stage.

Alice screamed in my ear, "Drake totally wants you!"

I laughed, "Alice, you're nuts!"

"Psh, he is totally eye-fucking you and not in a creepy way." She exclaimed.

I just shook my head and ignored her. There was no way he would be eye fucking me. Not with all these other girls surrounding me, wearing hardly anything, and four inch heels.

The rest of the concert played out, many of the songs on their album and a few more being sung out.

When the chords for "Forever" came on, I flipped out completely. If they were singing "Forever" that meant there were two guest stars: Kanye West AND Eminem!

I focused on Drake as he sang the opening chorus and then started rapping his heart out. His soft, musical voice filled the arena, causing the audience to quiet their screams. Unfortunately, as soon as he got them calm, Kanye West popped onto the stage, in black jeans and t-shirt, sporting his trademark shades and started rapping alongside Drake, moving up and down the stage. The entire crowd went insane, and actually pushed forward, causing me and Alice to get pushed into the stage. I looked at Alice, a little worried for her safety, but she was just staring up at Kanye as if she was in love again. Drake sang the chorus again, coming forward bouncing along to the music. Weezy spit out his bit, followed by another chorus. By this point, the crowd was crying and screaming, knowing who was up next. Eminem hadn't been seen in concert in ages. Drake finished his chorus, pointing off stage, at which point Eminem walked on stage, decked out in all white and a ball cap. He started flowing to the music and again, Alice and I were pushed further into the stage. Again, I looked at Alice, but she just smiled at me and with all her might, pushed back. I did the same, and gained some berth between me and the guy behind me. Alice and I started bouncing our heads to the end of the song, singing the music as it went on. Drake concluded the song, and the entire arena went crazy, screaming and jumping up and down.

Women were throwing bras and underwear up on stage and men tossed their ball caps up on stage. Drake strolled up in front of me and grabbed a hat that was in front of me, and placed it on his head, cocking it to the side and tossing me an easy grin.

Alice nudged me and mentioned it was ten minutes until the end of the show and as much as I wanted to stay until the end, I knew if I wanted to see Drake I had to get backstage. As we headed toward the back, the music for "Bedrock" came over speakers. I groaned, as it was one of favorites, and I wouldn't get to see it played live. The crowd went crazy again and I whined as we made our way backstage, flashing out passes to the bouncers. They were massive men in black, with the word "security" printed across their chests. They pushed us in and we were greeted by at least ten other people who had backstage passes as well. I moved towards the stage, and could see Drake from behind. It was his point in the song, and his voice flowed smooth and easy over the notes.

"I'd love it if he could make my bed rock." I mumbled, more to myself than anything.

Alice giggled and bumped her hip into mine. "I bet you would." She admonished.

I grinned and continued singing along to the words. The group of back stagers had formed a circle and were dancing along to the music. Alice and I joined the group, grooving to the beat of the music. We dipped low and shook our hips. The others did the same, granted they made it look effortless. I had to concentrate on not falling over. As the song ended, the crowd started screaming again as they closed the concert with "Finale". Gudda Gudda was up first, spitting out his flow. J Millz was up next, and he rapped out his words, moving along the stage. Tyga took over as the music changed tempo. Women went crazy again as his skinny body bobbed up to the front of the stage and back. The youngest of the group, Lil Chuckee was next, rapping about being young with an attitude. He bounced across the stage, stopping at Lil Twist, then Nicki Minaj (who was personally my idol for having twice the attitude as any man in the group). Shanell's voice belted out next, again changing the tempo of the song, Mack Maine took over next, saying his piece, leading off to Drake who threw out his words, his head moving along to the music as he spoke. Lil Wayne finished up the song and the entire crowd went wild, screaming for an encore, begging them to not to leave the stage. They went back out and did some freestyle, and as they did, the security guards came over to speak to us.

One guy who was exceptionally burly and had gruff facial hair sized us up in a glare and said, "You are not to touch the performers. You are not to attempt to touch the performers. You are not to go within 1 foot of the performers unless they say it's okay, and even then, _I _have to approve it." Immediately, our smiles faded and we began to fear for our lives. This guy was truly frightening.

Another man, slightly smaller laughed, "Ah, he's just kidding folks. He likes to scare the shit out of the backstage kids." He laughed again, but then a serious look crossed his face, "But really, do not touch the performers. Period."

We all nodded our heads, promising not to touch anybody, not even ourselves. The music died down and the group came off the stage and headed back towards the dressing room. As Drake passed me, he looked at me confused but then a mischievous grin began to tug at the corner of his lips. He grabbed a hold of Lil Wayne's shoulders and began congratulating everyone on a great show, moving along with the group.

Our group slowly followed behind them, keeping our hands to ourselves. I couldn't help but smile to myself though, as my insides were screaming with joy. _Drake had noticed me!_

We were led into a dressing room/lounge area in which the group was now lazily sitting around, drinking water and trying to relax from the show. I found myself an empty spot on the wall and leaned my back up against it, one foot kicked up and my hands in my pockets. I looked around, taking in the surreal atmosphere. Alice was talking with Shanell about fashion and where Shanell got her corset. The other various back stagers were chatting it up with Lil Wayne and the rest of the crew. Drake however, was off to the side by himself. Staring straight at me.

I gulped as I tried to suppress the urge to run over to him, throw my arms around him and scream like one of the groupies. But instead, I diverted my eye contact to the floor, becoming fascinated with the tile. I began to wonder if maybe he'd approach me.

I saw his purple Nike's before anything else.

He walked up to me silently and when his shoes came into view I inhaled sharply. I looked up slowly, my eyes drinking in the sight before me. I started at his Nike's, internally laughing at the fact that we were both wearing purple. My eyes drifted up his denim clad legs, to his waist line, and his broad chest, a bit of his collar bone that was peeking out from his t-shirt, his dark, creamy neck, his fully, succulent lips, and finally my eyes met his caramel mocha ones and I melted. Never, in my twenty three years of life, had I ever been so turned on by just a look. His lips were tugged into a cute, little smile, and his eyes were twinkling. He moved closer, placing an arm up on the wall beside me, leaning in close to my ear.

"You know," He started. "Most girls who come back stage can barely control themselves around us. Yet, here you stand. By yourself. Quite the contradiction, girl". His voice was liquid smooth, just like honey.

I exhaled, "Ask and you shall receive." I muttered more to myself than anything.

He smiled, "What was that?"

I laughed, "Nothing- just talking to myself. Um, great show!" I stated, not really knowing what on earth this guy could possibly have to say to me.

"Thanks." He grinned again, "You know I noticed you when I was on stage." I avoided his eye contact but he continued, "And it takes a lot to make me notice a girl while I'm performing."

Slowly my eyesight drifted up to his and I gave him a shy smile.

"Oh girl, don't tell me you're shy!" He exclaimed.

I shrugged my shoulders.

He reached a hand out and picked my chin up to look at him. "I saw you dancing. You ain't shy. What's your name?"

I bit my bottom lip, "Bella."

"Beautiful Bella" he mumbled, his fingers still lingering on my chin. They slowly moved up my jaw line and he softly grasped my earlobe.

I stifled a moan and bit my lip again to keep from gasping out loud.

"Receptive, are we?" he asked coyly.

I reached up and grasped his hand with mine, pulling it away from my face. "Aggressive, aren't we?" I responded.

"Oh, and she's feisty. I like that." He said with a smirk. "Hey, I think we're headed out to Jimmie's for pizza - we're starved. Wanna tag along?"

His words rolled over me like a bowling bowl rolled over pins. _He _ate pizza at _Jimmies_? I was just there last weekend! How could Jimmy not tell me this?

"You?" I stuttered. "You eat pizza?"

He looked at me surprised, "Yes, I'm human."

"No, I mean, you eat pizza at Jimmies?" I finally spat out.

He nodded, "Best pizza in town. Though we typically order take out. Otherwise…" He trailed off.

Otherwise, they'd get swarmed with crazy fans and groupies.

I was about to agree with him when an idea hit me.

"When's the last time you had a home cooked meal?" I asked, my voice the bravest it's been all night.

He eyed me warily, "It's been a while. Weezy ain't one for cooking."

I snickered at the idea of Lil Wayne in a chef hat and apron, cooking in a state of the art kitchen.

He had changed positions and was now leaning against the wall like me, but his body tilted towards me. "Why you ask?"

I bit my lip, "Look, I never do this. Ever. Obviously, since I've never met anyone nearly as important as you, but I have food back at home, and it would be an incredible honor if you'd let me cook for you. My roommate and friends claim I'm one of the best cooks in Texas." I quirked an eyebrow and gave him a smile.

Drake looked at me, cocked his head to the side, and laughed. "Best cook in Texas, huh? How in the hell am I supposed to turn that down?"

I stared at him. He had said yes. He was coming to my house. Oh my god!

He got serious, "Just promise not to like, murder me or something, k?"

"Murder is the last thing you need to be worrying about," I muttered under my breath, biting my lip again and giving him the once over.

He smirked and left to tell his crew where he'd be going. They all sort of stared at him like he was crazy, but just shook their heads and told him to be careful. Alice ran over to me and took my hands, leading me away from the group.

"You invited him to OUR house?" She squealed.

I shrugged my shoulders, "Yeah. Is that okay?"

Her eyes bulged, "Is it okay? What do you mean, is it okay! Its freaking amazing, Bella! Jesus Christ!"

I laughed, "Okay then. What are you going to do?"

She looked back at the group and then to me. "I think I'll get a few more autographs, maybe go for pizza with them, and then go find Felix." She was bouncing all over the place in excitement.

I reached out and placed my hands on her shoulders, "Easy killer, you need to take a breather."

Alice took a deep breath and stopped bouncing. "Sorry. I'm just like, wow. Drake is going to OUR house!"

"I hope he doesn't feel like its gross or beneath him or something." I wondered.

Alice grabbed a hold of my hands and looked at me, "Bella, he's a human just like everyone else. He started somewhere too, which meant he was a normal person at one point of time. Who knows, this could be a humbling experience for him."

"Yeah, right. It was a stupid idea." I admitted.

She then jerked my arms stiffly and nearly screamed, "Bella. Shut up! He wants to spend the evening with YOU! Seriously. Are you really regretting this right now? Come on!"

I nodded my head, "Yeah I guess. Alright, well be careful tonight, okay?"

"No worries love, I'll be fine. Text me later!" She said with a wink and turned back to Shanell and Nicki Minaj as if they'd been best friends for years.

Drake approached me again, causing butterflies to stir in my stomach. He placed his hand on the small of my back, motioning for me to lead the way. As we walked out the door, I eyed the security guards scared.

Drake must have noticed my concern and leaned down, "Don't worry about them, they're just teddy bears."

My mind immediately drifted to Emmett and Jacob and I felt a wave of relief rush over me. Drake pulled a ball cap over his head, added a pair of sunglasses, and pulled the hood up on his shirt.

I quirked my eyebrow.

"It's all 'bout being incognito, baby." He said with a smirk, handing me a ball cap and sweatshirt. "I recommend putting it on. We're 'bout to hit the paparazzi."

I nodded my head, pulling the sweatshirt over my body, swimming in it, and tugged the ball cap on my head. He pushed open the double doors of the arena, and a rush of cool air met us. Along with thousands of flashing bulbs, screaming fans, and reporter questions.

"Drake! Drake!"

"Drake, is this your girlfriend?" (I swear I heard him chuckle at this).

"Drake, I love you!" (I felt a pang of jealousy at this).

"Marry me Drake!" (At this, I wanted to claim him as mine, but I kept pushing forward).

"Drake!"

He continued to gently, but hurriedly, push me through the throng of people towards a black Escalade SUV. A large black man stepped out and opened the door for us. I climbed in first, with Drake following me behind me. The man closed the door and hopped up front.

I gave the directions to my place and we were on our way to my house. As the driver pulled out of the parking lot, Drake and I sat there in silence. I was staring at my hands in my lap when he cleared his throat.

"So, you been living in Houston for long?" He asked, breaking the silence.

Still focusing on my fingers, I shook my head. "Na, I just got here about two years ago."

I sneaked a glance at him and found him staring out the window. "Yeah, I know that feeling," he responded absentmindedly.

I furrowed my brow, "You miss home then?" I asked.

He exhaled, "Sometimes, but I love what I'm doing here, you know?"

I nodded my head, my hair bobbing around me. "Yeah, I know exactly what you mean."

He smiled wide, "So, if you're not from Houston, where's home?"

"Um, a teeny tiny little town called Forks, Washington. Population 2000." I said with a shy smile.

His eyes got wide, "That's tiny! I bet you didn't get away with much."

I laughed, "It's impossible when your father is the Chief of Police."

Drake's hearty laughed filled the cab of the truck and he slapped his knee. "You're kidding! Chief of Police! I bet you didn't date much, did you?"

I shook my head, "Not exactly." I turned to look out the window. I noticed we were getting close to home.

"Sore subject, huh?" he asked.

"Something like that." I responded.

The driver came to a halt, "This you?" He asked.

I looked at Drake and then called to the driver, "Yeah this is me."

Drake nodded his head and opened the door, pulling his hood up again. I eyed him suspiciously and he answered, "You can never be too careful."

"Right." I said, throwing my hood up.

He helped me out of the monster SUV and I led him up to the front of the apartment. Luckily, we were the only ones in the area, and the neighbors all seemed to be asleep. The Houston night air surrounded us, and the sounds of crickets and bullfrogs filled the air.

I stopped once we arrived at our door, pulling my key out. I paused before turning the lock and bit my lip. "It's probably not what you're used to, but um…" I said, trailing off.

He laughed again, "Bella, it's not like I get invited to strange girl's homes every night."

With that my mind started rolling. He called me strange, he thought I was strange. It seems I made a wonderful first impression.

He seemed to understand my concern and immediately amended what he said, "Not that you're strange!"

I smiled, "Yeah, right." I said, taking a deep breath, turning the lock and opening the door.

I pushed open the door and invited him into the foyer.

He smiled, "So being greeted by a tiger on a leash _isn't _normal! Who would have thought?" He nudged me in my side with his elbow and I laughed.

I cocked an eyebrow, "Lil Wayne has a tiger?"

"Her name is Saira and she can be a real bitch." Drake responded easily.

I looked at him dumbfounded, half expecting him to tell me he was joking. When he didn't, I continued my stare in disbelief. "You're serious?"

"Deadly." He deadpanned.

I let out a breath, "Well! Definitely no tigers here, although Alice did want to get a kitten once."

He laughed easily, a huge smile crossing his lips. "I think you're kitten enough."

I immediately dropped my eyes to the floor and blushed bright pink.

"That's cute." He admonished.

When I didn't respond, he said, "The blush. It's cute. Reminds me that you're human."

I looked at him confused, "Of course I'm human. What else would I be?"

"You meet a lot of different … characters… in the performing business." He said softly.

"Oh… sore subject?" I asked, using the same words he had earlier.

He smiled, "Something like that."

I grinned back at him, "Well! How about we feed you?"

"Sounds amazing. So, Chef Bella, what's on the menu for tonight?" He quipped.

I started to make my way down to the kitchen, and he followed after me, his Nike's softly padding behind me.

We entered the kitchen and I went over to the fridge, peering inside, "Well, are you a pasta kind of man or more of a meat and potatoes kind of guy?"

"Meat and potatoes if I'm being honest." He said breathily in my ear.

I gasped and whipped around, "You _are _aggressive, aren't you?"

He gave me that mischievous smile again and I melted when he responded with, "Only with you, kitten."

I huffed, "Why do you keep calling me kitten?"

He laughed, "Would you rather me call you cat lady?"

I gave him the stink eye (which I quickly remembered was _not_ sexy) and turned back around to the fridge. "Kitten works, I spose."

I pulled out the steak we had thawing, and the ingredients to make my special marinade that Charlie loved so much. I then remembered that we had some crab meat in the pantry, and grabbed that and some potatoes. I thought if he liked meat and potatoes, what's better than steak and baked potatoes?

I set to work preparing the steaks, filleting them and laying them on the chopping block. I then grabbed all the ingredients to make my marinade. I was so in the zone of my food that I hadn't noticed Drake was talking. I blushed bright red again.

"Sorry, what'd you just say?"

He had placed himself on our counter, his feet dangling to the floor. "I was saying that you really get into this cooking thing, don't you?"

My brow furrowed when I realized I had probably added too much salt to the mixture, and then decided to throw in some more oil. I dipped my finger in to taste it, moaning as the flavors burst in my mouth. "What?" I asked again.

He looked at me then at the food then at me again.

"Oh, yeah. Definitely, I love cooking." I answered quickly.

I placed the steaks in the bowl with the marinade and put them in the fridge. I figured I'd do twice baked potatoes, as they seemed to have so much more flavor. "You're not allergic to anything are you?" I asked him.

"Oh _now_ you ask?" he answered coyly.

Immediately I felt ashamed for not asking sooner, "Sorry. Like you said, I really get into this stuff, and I'm so used to cooking for Alice who doesn't have any allergies, and my dad doesn't either, and well, neither does my best friend Jake, so I don't have to worry about that." I took a deep breath. "Wow, talk about word vomit."

He barked out a laugh, "No, it's okay! Most girls are too nervous to even say anything to me, let alone get to the point of word vomit."

I blushed again, immediately hating the fact that he caused the blood to flush to my face so easily.

I turned back around to the food and set to fixing the potatoes, adding butter and salt to the outside and wrapping them in aluminum and turning the oven on. Again, I was so intune with the food that I hadn't heard Drake slide off the counter and come up behind me.

I squealed when his husky voice entered my ear, "And no, I'm not allergic to anything." His hands went to my hips and turned me around.

I was surprised and a little bit frightened by the look in his eyes. They were burning with desire. But that was impossible. I was just Bella.

His hands cupped my cheeks and he bent down slowly, gently kissing my nose. He all but whispered, "Do you have any idea how incredibly sexy you are when you're cooking?"

I shook my head violently, "No, no. Not. Sexy." I spat out, unable to put together full sentences.

He grinned again, "Yes, yes, very sexy." He answered, leaning in to kiss my earlobe.

I gasped and sighed with content, my hands easily resting on either of his wrists.

"Potatoes." I squeaked out.

He laughed breathily, releasing his hold on my face. His hands slid down to clasp mine and he answered, "Yes, food. I'm dying over here."

"Oh! Do you want a salad?" I asked quickly, moving over to the fridge.

"Potatoes, kitten. The potatoes." He reminded me.

I took a deep breath, closing the fridge and glared at him a little. "I was getting there!"

He laughed, "I could help, you know."

I placed the potatoes in the oven and set the timer for 15 minutes. I turned around to face him. He was again sitting on the counter; his body slouched over a bit. "You cook?" I asked.

He bobbed his head one way then the other, "From time to time. Weezy doesn't like it when we play in his kitchen."

I laughed, "Well, you're free to play here anytime." I again blushed crimson as I realized what I said. I quickly spun around to the fridge and pulled out the lettuce and other vegetables to make the salad.

"Tomatoes." He said.

"What about them?" I asked.

He answered, "I don't like tomatoes."

"Oh." I placed the tomato back into the fridge. "I don't really like them either."

I put the vegetables on the counter and started chopping them up: celery, broccoli, cucumber, carrots, and lettuce. "Sorry, we don't have much to make this a grand salad. We had salads with dinner. And the cauliflower had gone bad."

He stepped down from the counter, standing next to me. "That's okay. No big. You want some help?"

"Uhhh, sure! Here, you can finish this up." I handed him the carrots and cucumber and he started slicing and dicing like he was a pro.

The oven dinged and I put on an oven mitt and pulled the potatoes out. I set them on the counter to cool momentarily, and then pulled the steaks out of the fridge. I dug in the cupboard for a frying pan, finally finding the one I wanted and set it on the stove. I added some butter to the pan and turned on the burner. The butter sizzled and slid across the pan as it melted. I turned the burner down and put the steaks on, grabbing a lid to throw on top.

"How do you like your steak?" I asked him.

"Now she's asking questions." He retorted.

I laughed, "Hey pal, I agreed to make you dinner, so that's what I'm doing. Now how do you like your steak?"

He laughed, "I love that you're feisty." He smiled and then added, "medium, please."

I nodded and set to flip the steaks over. "Will you watch them while I do the potatoes?" I asked him.

He nodded, "Sure." He came over to stand next to me by the stove, and I could feel the electricity between us and I wondered if he felt it too.

I began digging away at the hulls of the potatoes, softening them up. I added a little more butter and salt, and stuffed some cheese and chives into them. I wrapped them up again and put them back in the oven for 5 minutes.

"I think the steaks are done." Drake murmured, his eyes not watching the steak but me.

I grinned, "The steaks are done, huh?"

He shook his head, but then quickly nodded, "Yeah, I think so."

I grabbed a fork and knife and pulled the lid off the steaks. I cut one down the center and found that it was just a little pink. "Yeah, I think you're right."

He beamed at me, "See! I told you I could cook!"

I quirked an eyebrow, "Watching steaks in order to prevent them from burning is cooking to you?"

He grinned sheepishly, "I make a mean mac and cheese!"

I laughed, "I'll have to try that some time."

"Maybe when I come back over to play?" He asked innocently.

I scowled at him and then smiled, "I suppose you can come over and play. But only if you play nice."

His musical laughter filled the air, "What fun is that, if you have to be nice all the time. Nothing wrong with a little teasing." With that, he stepped closer to me, pressing me up against the counter and leaned down, gently pressing his beautiful pink lips to my cheek.

I gasped again but recovered quickly, playfully smacking him in the chest. "You're trouble."

He waggled his eyebrows, "Definitely."

I smiled, shaking my head, and turned around to grab dishes and silverware for our food. The oven dinged, signaling that the potatoes were finished. I opened the oven and slid the potatoes out. I played hot potato with them as I tried to take the aluminum off, effectively burning my fingers.

"Ouch!" I gasped, lifting my finger up to my eyes to inspect.

"Are you okay?" Drake asked, grabbing my hand, inspecting it for me. "Oh, just a little burn." He looked at me playfully, "I think a kiss might make it feel better."

I laughed, "So, not only do you sing and dance, but you're a cook _and_ a doctor. You are quite the multi-tasker."

With that, he pulled my finger to his mouth and kissed it softly. He then blew cool, sweet air on it, and I melted all over again. This man would be the death of me.

I wrenched my hand back from his lips and smiled, "Thank you Dr. Drake, but I think I can manage a small burn. Now if you would please take a seat at the bar, I will happily serve you dinner."

He brought his hand up to his forehead and saluted me, "Yes ma'am, right away ma'am."

I laughed easily, and set to work on pulling the aluminum off the potatoes. They were perfect, thankfully. I placed one on each plate, and the same with a steak. I poured the left over marinade in the pan onto the steaks, grabbed two small salad bowls, filled them with salad, and placed those on the plate next to the steak. I then set the plate in front of Drake, whose eyes bulged from his head.

"This looks amazing, Bella. God, I'm starving!" He exclaimed.

"What kind of dressing would you like?" I asked, ignoring his compliment.

He thought for a second, "You got ranch?"

I grinned, "Of course, it's my favorite."

I grabbed the ranch from the fridge, as well as my plate and set both on the counter. "How do you feel about cabernet?" I asked him.

He looked at me quizzically, "Wine?"

"Yes, dear, wine." I blushed scarlet again, realizing that I had called him "dear".

He grinned, "Love it."

I grabbed two wine goblets and a cabernet from the wine rack. I pulled out a bottle opener, twisted the cork off, and poured the wine into the two glasses.

"This should pair with the steak quite nicely." I told him, setting the glass in front of him.

"Oh, she's a sous-chef!" he teased me.

I reached to grab the glass back, and glared at him. "If you don't want it, I'll drink it." God only knew where I was getting this attitude, but he seemed to like it.

His hand grabbed mine and stopped me from taking the glass, "I don't think so. Now get over here and eat."

I smiled and nodded my head, walking around to the other side of the counter. I eased into the chair and picked up my knife and fork and dug into my food. I had to admit, it was a damn good steak. And the potatoes were perfection. I was also right about the wine- it did go really well with the steak.

He took a big bite of his steak and moaned. Drake literally moaned over my cooking! "Bella," he admonished, "If you continue to cook like this, I ain't never leaving."

"Well, my mother always did say the quickest way to a man's heart was through his stomach." I replied.

He took another bite of his steak, chewed slowly, swallowed and then asked, "So you're after my heart, is it?"

The wine must have been getting to me because I replied, "Your heart, your lips, your body, whatever comes first."

He paused, contemplating what I just said.

I gasped, "I just said that out loud, didn't I?"

He nodded, and laughed, "I think maybe you need some more wine. I think I like this side of you." He started to pour more wine into my glass, and I giggled.

"If I'm being honest, it doesn't take much to get me drunk." I revealed.

Chuckling he responded, "That I can see."

I stabbed a bit of potato and shoved it in my mouth, chewing quickly. I then stabbed a piece of steak, followed by a bit of potato, shoving it in my mouth and chewing. I knew I needed to keep my mouth occupied if I was going to keep myself out of trouble.

We finished the meal with easy banter back and forth, and I did my best to keep myself in check. When we finished, I grabbed the plates and silverware and went to the sink. I rinsed everything off and put it all in the dishwasher to wash, adding soap and turning it on. I then started cleaning the counters and eventually made it back to the sink and washed my hands. I barely had time to rinse them when I felt Drake behind me.

His hands found mine and he twisted me around so that I was facing him. I was about to ask him what was wrong, when his hands cupped my face and his bent down to mine, his lips ever so softly grazing my own. I felt a shiver move up and down my spine, and I instantly yearned for more. I moaned softly, praying he would realize that was permission to do it again, and when his lips met mine once more, only more passionate then the first, I knew he had understood. I wrapped my hands around his neck, and reached up on my tip-toes to kiss him with more ease. His lips molded to mine, and they tasted sweet, like the wine we had just drunk. Feeling daring, I inched my tongue out to gently brush his bottom lip. He groaned, pulling me closer. His mouth opened slightly, and his own tongue poked out, sweeping across my lip and causing me to need him more. He seemed to be receptive towards this and picked me up to sit me on the counter top. My legs crossed at his waist, pulling him even tighter to me, deepening the kiss between us. I could feel his growing arousal rubbing up against my center and I moaned, catching his lip with my teeth. He responded with his own guttural moan and pushed up harder against me.

"Bella" he moaned, his lips moving to my jaw bone and up to my earlobe. He nibbled on it and I gasped at the wave of pleasure that rushed through me. "God, you're beautiful," he whispered in my ear.

I smiled and kissed his face and leaned into his ear, "You're pretty beautiful yourself."

I felt him smile against my neck and he laughed, murmuring, "I've never been called beautiful before."

His eyes moved to meet mine, and I said, "Well, you should be called beautiful every single day, 'cos that's what you are." I said simply, my finger tapping his nose.

He shook his head, "How much did you have to drink again?"

I laughed and pushed him away, jumping down from the counter and immediately stumbling, "Apparently more than I realized."

He grabbed a hold of me, picking me up bridal style and asked me where my room was.

"Last door on the right" I mumbled, my finger pointing in the direction of my room.

He kicked the door open and laid me on my bed. He flicked on my lamp next to my bed and looked around. I sat back up, almost too quickly, as the world started to spin, and mumbled something about changing out of my clothes.

Drake smiled again and started rifling through my dressers, finding a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. He snickered when he was saw it was a Young Money concert tee that I had bought last year. He tossed them at me.

I slowly picked up the articles of clothing and wobbled my way towards the bathroom. I closed the door behind me, and stared at myself in the mirror. I began chastising myself immediately, running my fingers through my hair.

_Drake is _here_ in your bedroom and you're drunk? Get a grip, Bella! _

I washed my face and brushed my teeth, pulling off my jeans and tank and slipping on my night clothes. I felt immediately better and made my way back to my bedroom. I was confused and a bit annoyed when he wasn't in my bed. Or even in my room for that matter. I spun around and walked down the hallway.

I found him laying on the couch.

I put my hands on my hips and asked, "What are you doing?"

He sat up and looked at me then the couch and said, "Well, I figured I'd sleep out here."

I walked over to him and grabbed his hand. "And why would you do that? I have a very comfortable, large bed in my room."

"Oh." He said, his lips forming an actual 'o'. I giggled and pulled him towards my room.

I pushed him down on my bed and climbed on top of him, snuggling into his body. "See, isn't this more comfortable?" I mumbled.

His hands found my back, and slipped under my shirt, and he began rubbing small circles. "Definitely," he said, sounding quite content.

As I drifted asleep, the last thing I remember thinking was, _Edward who?_

**A/N: Alright, lay it on me... Lame? Cute? What do you think? :) If you're enjoying this story, please read my other, _Crescent Moon_. It's much more Twilighty based. You just might like it :) **

**As always, BIG BIG BIG thanks to my favorite beta EVER, _Endlesslywaiting. _You are just spectacular! :)  
**


	5. Omelettes, Unexpected Visitors, and Ink

**Chapter 5- Omelettes, Unexpected Visitors, and Ink**

The sun poured through my windows, filling my room with golden rays and warming me up from underneath my blanket. I sat up and stretched my arms up above my head and yawned.

"Just like a cat after a long nap," a gruff voice said, breaking the silence in my room.

I scrambled out of my bed grabbing my sheets, looking at the creamy, chocolate body in my bed.

"Oh. My. God." I exclaimed. I peeked under my sheets, making sure I was fully dressed and then back up to him. I noticed he was fully dressed as well. Holding the sheets tightly around me, I bit my lip and quirked an eyebrow. "Did we . . . ?"

He laughed, slowly opening each one of his eyes, "Did we what?"

I huffed, "Did we, you know…" making a motion towards him and me and raising my eyebrows to emphasize my point.

Drake sat up and stretched much like I had and smiled again, "No kitten, we did not, 'you know'". He used his fingers to air quote me.

I took a minute to take in my surroundings. I was obviously in my bedroom, in my pajamas. But the last thing I could remember was eating dinner and drinking that fantastic wine. _Oh!_

"I got drunk last night, didn't I?_" _I asked, unsure of myself.

"Yep" he said, popping his lips on the 'p' sound.

Instantly, I smacked my forehead. Here I was, in my _bedroom _with DRAKE, and I had gotten drunk and blacked out. I really needed to stop drinking.

Then I remembered. "We kissed…"

He nodded his head, as he climbed out of the bed and moved towards me. His arms snaked out and wrapped around my torso and pulled me close to him and he placed a chaste kiss on my forehead.

"I'm going to go brush my teeth!" I squeaked out and twisted around to leave the room. This effectively ended with me in a crumpled heap on the floor, entwined in my sheet. I immediately blushed bright red.

Drake laughed and offered me a hand up. I embarrassingly took it, slowly standing up and relinquished myself from my blankets, throwing them on the bed. I then gave him a sheepish smile and sprinted towards the bathroom.

Once inside the tiny room, I slammed the door shut and locked it, sliding down the wooden frame. I groaned and began internally berating myself.

_You were home, alone, with Drake. DRAKE! Not only did you get drunk last night, you completely FORGOT he was in your bed! _

I groaned again, stood up and started to brush my teeth. Scrubbing as hard as I could, I spat out the foam in the sink and stared at my reflection.

"You have some massive damage control to do, Swan." I ordered myself.

Flipping my head over, I ran my fingers through my hair, shaking it out in hopes of gaining some volume. Since he'd already since me without make-up, I didn't think applying it was necessary. Instead, I opened the door and made my way back to my room.

I found him staring at my collage of pictures.

"You like taking pictures?" he asked once I entered the room again.

I walked over to him and nodded my head, "Yeah. I'm not very good at it, but it's a nice hobby. Plus, there are plenty of things to take pictures of here."

He pointed at a picture of Charlie and Renee, "Your parents?"

"Mmmhm. They're divorced. My dad still lives in Forks, but my mom relocated to Jacksonville, Florida. She's a bit chaotic and kind of goes where the wind blows her."

He nodded as if he understood, then pointed at a picture of Jake and I at the lake. "Ex-boyfriend?"

I laughed. Like, full out, bust a gut, laughed. Drake stared at me, confused.

"He," I said, laughing and pointing at Jake, "is the furthest thing from boyfriend. More like a brother. Our dad's are best friends, so we followed suit. We both kind of figured our dads wanted us to be together, but there was no way." Drake didn't seem comforted by this, so I quickly added, "He has a gorgeous girlfriend of two years. They're the 'forever' kind."

"Oh." His eyes continued to drift over the pictures, smiling and laughing. He pointed at several landscape photos, asking where they were taken.

I stared at him, completely astounded. "I took those here. In Houston. You mean you've never been to Sheldon State Park? Or down to the Brazoria Wildlife Refuge?"

He shook his head, "Na, I typically steer clear of touristy areas."

It was my turn to shake my head, "Drake- it's forest and stuff. They aren't touristy areas, really. Heck, when I went there, there was hardly another person in sight."

He bit his lip as if he was contemplating something and then said, "Maybe you can take me sometime?"

_Did he just ask me out on a date? _ "Um, uh, yeah." I stuttered, trying to form my response, "Sure, yeah, that'd be really cool." _Did I just say 'cool'? God, I'm such a dork!_

A comfortable silence fell over us and my stomach took that as the moment to growl. Loudly.

Again, Drake's musical laughter filled the room. "Hungry kitten?"

"Starving."

He took my hand, kissed my knuckles and responded, "Let's make breakfast, shall we?"

I giggled, allowing him to lead me from my room to the kitchen. Apparently, in my drunken state, I had still managed to clean up.

He led me to a stool at the breakfast bar. "Sit. You made dinner, I got breakfast."

I stared at him in disbelief, but nodded my head. I sure as heck wasn't going to turn down breakfast by Drake.

I watched him as he gracefully made his way to the fridge, poking his gorgeous head in and rummaging around, looking for ingredients. Eventually, he came out with eggs, sausage, cheese, peppers, and salsa.

"South of the Border omelet?" He inquired.

My mouth immediately started watering, and I nodded my head fervently. "Sounds delicious."

He set to work, browning the sausage, whipping the eggs, and cutting up the peppers. He buttered a pan, added the eggs, and then the sausage, peppers, and cheese. He flipped one side of the egg over, creating a pocket that would slowly melt the cheese with the other ingredients. He added a lid, and waited a few moments before dishing it out with a spatula and placing it on a plate. He opened the jar of salsa and poured the clumpy mixture on top of the omelet.

He sat the omelet in front of me and I inhaled deeply. "This smells amazing, Drake."

He grinned widely and handed me a fork, before turning around to make himself an omelet.

I cut into the omelet slowly and took a bite, immediately overcome with all the flavors. I moaned to myself, forgetting he was in the room, and quickly cut another bite and shoved it in my mouth. I chewed slowly, savoring the flavor.

"If I would have known you were going to react like, I would have cooked last night," he said, snarkily.

I stopped chewing and swallowed, "If I would have known you could cook like this, you _would_ have cooked last night!" I retorted.

Drake placed his own omelet on a plate and joined me on a stool beside me. "So, do you have plans today?" he asked easily.

"Um," I started, remembering it was sunny from earlier. "I'm thinking of lounging by the pool all day. You interested?"

It was odd. I had just asked him to spend the day with me as if we'd been together for ages and he made no movement or action acknowledging any form of discomfort.

He swallowed his bite, "That sounds chill. You sure you don't mind the company?"

I shook my head, "Definitely not. It'll be nice actually. Alice has a new boyfriend, so she's not around quite so much. And many of my other friends went home for the summer."

Drake nodded his head, taking another bite. "I'll have to run home and grab my trunks. What time is it now?"

I looked at the digital clock on the stove, "Around 11:20."

"I can be back around 12:30, is that cool?" He asked, taking his last bite of omelet.

"It's a date." I exclaimed, then immediately blushing bright red.

"A date it is." He responded, his hand reaching up to cup my face. He leaned in like he was about to kiss me, our mouth centimeters apart when he said, "You snore."

I blushed bright red again, shocked. "I do not!"

He laughed, "Okay, so maybe it was more like talking than snoring."

"Oh god! What did I say!" I knew I had a sleep-talking problem. That's how Edward found out I was in love with him. He took to sneaking into my room before we started officially dating. Before I thought it was cute, but now I see it more as creepy. Stalker-ish even.

He grinned widely, "Nothing to worry your pretty little head about". He placed a chaste kiss on my pink cheek and stood up to put the dishes in the sink.

I immediately followed, taking the dishes in front of me and walking towards the dishwasher. "I'll get those. Why don't you go ahead home, and I'll see you in a bit?"

"Sounds good. I have to call Sam though."

"Sam?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's our driver. Remember? He drove us home last night?" He lifted an eyebrow and smiled.

"Oh. Well, you didn't exactly introduce us." I quickly responded.

"Sorry." He smiled, "I'm going to make that phone call. I'll be right back." He walked towards my room and I could hear his soft voice coming from down the hall.

I smiled to myself, thinking of the perfect morning we had. And now we were going to continue that morning into the afternoon. Swimming and lounging in the sun. My eyes got wide at the idea of seeing him half naked, in swimming trunks that would sit low on his hips. The idea of the water cascading down his chest, disappearing into the waistline caused my heart to pick up speed. I gulped.

"Whatcha thinking about?" A honey, smooth voice asked me.

I gasped out loud, nearly dropping the plate in my hand. Drake had sneaked up on me once again.

"I'm definitely getting you a bell!" I exclaimed, holding my soapy hand to my chest.

He glided towards me and took my hand from my chest and put the dish into the dishwasher. "You know, the point of a dishwasher is to washthe dishes so you don't have to." He teased.

I scowled, "Prewashing gets all the crumbs and stuff stuck on the plates off."

He stepped a little closer, bringing our bodies together, effectively pushing me against the counter. "Sam will be here in about twenty minutes." He whispered as our foreheads connected with one another.

I inhaled, taking in his scent. Sweat mixed with something sweet and a little spicy, almost like cinnamon. His hands reached up to cup my face and my hands grasped at his wrists. Butterflies floated in my stomach and I could feel the electricity moving between our bodies. His lips grazed my top lip and I exhaled, breathing in quickly before they grazed my bottom lip. He brought his body even closer, pressing against me. My hands moved from his wrists to the back of his neck and I coaxed his lips back to mine. This time, his took my mine fully, completely taking my breath away. Fireworks felt like they were exploding my head and I began to feel intoxicated by him. His creamy, soft lips pulled and tugged at mine and I felt his tongue run across my bottom lip, asking for permission to deepen the kiss. I succumbed to him and our tongues danced together. Our kiss only broke so we could breathe and this didn't even last long, as he assaulted my neck and collarbone with his lips. His hand reached up to pull the neck of my shirt to the side, exposing more of my skin. His tongue was hot like fire as it moved languidly across the length of my collarbone. I moaned and he continued the onslaught. I pressed against him and I could feel the length of him push against my stomach. I moaned again, thinking of how long it had been since I'd had a man in my bed.

His hands moved to the bottom of my shirt, causing it to ride up and expose some more of my skin. I felt a surge of desire flow through my body to my core when his hands palmed my back and moved up to my shoulder blades. My own hands had followed his actions and were now situated at the hemline of his pants. Ever so slowly, I inched one hand up under his shirt, and explored the creamy softness of his stomach. I wasn't surprised to learn that his stomach had cut lines across it, defining his abs. His mouth came back up to mine, kissing me more fervently and my hands grasped at his sides, my nails digging in ever so slightly. He moaned at this and I felt him smile against my lips.

My shirt continued to ride up and his hands were now on my stomach, his thumb brushing back and forth just under my breast. I wanted him to touch me. I wanted more of him.

"Drake." I moaned.

"Tell me what you want." His husky voice responded.

"You. Please." I said exasperatedly.

He smiled against my lips again and his hand inched up further, about to palm my breast. I inhaled shakily and then I heard it.

A knock.

At the front door.

I heard Drake curse and he stepped away from me. He was grinning widely, his hand rearranging his pants.

I giggled and then went to the door. I looked out the peep hole and recognized the same man who drove us last night. I opened the door.

"Hi! Sam right?" I asked.

"Yes ma'am. I'm here for Mr. Drake." He said politely.

I giggled at him saying, 'Mr. Drake'. "I'll go get him. Please, come inside."

I opened the door and he shuffled inside, his wide body taking up the entire frame of the door. I walked back towards the kitchen and yelled for Drake.

"Hey! Sam is here." I looked around, noticing he wasn't in the kitchen.

I heard him call back from the bathroom, "Of course he is. Gimme a second!"

I smiled and shook my head, moving back to the foyer where Sam was still standing.

"Would you like something to drink?" I asked, noticing he seemed uncomfortable.

"No ma'am." He responded.

I smiled, "you don't have to call me 'ma'am'. You can call me Bella."

Sam gave a very small smile, "Yes Miss Bella."

I shook my head, "Just Bella, Sam."

"Yes, er, Bella." He seemed to struggle with calling me by my name.

I whispered, "How about this ... You call me what you like in front of the boss man, but when it's just us, you can call me Bella."

He seemed to relax at this statement, "Okay."

I heard the bathroom door open and Drake came into view a few seconds later. "Sorry 'bout that."

I giggled, "No problem. So I'll see you in a bit?"

Drake smiled, "Yep, I'll be right back!" He leaned in and kissed me softly on the lips.

Sam took this as his cue to leave and walked out the door.

"Bye Sam!" I called out to him.

He turned around and smiled, "Bye Miss Bella." And then he continued on his way.

I gave him a knowing smile and patted Drake on the chest. "He won't stop calling me 'miss'."

Drake laughed, "We've all told him to call us by our first names, but he still adds a 'mister' in front of them." He kissed me again, "I'll be back soon."

I smiled and gave him a shy nod, biting my lip.

"Why do you have to do that! It makes it _that_ much more difficult to leave!" He exclaimed.

I giggled, "Sorry. Just a habit." I winked at him and pushed him out the door. "I'll see you soon!"

"Bye!" He called back to me and climbed into the huge SUV.

I closed the door behind and sighed, sliding down the door, landing on my bottom. I put my face in my hands and shook my head in utter disbelief. I just had the most amazing night of my life, plus the most amazing morning… and now it was going to continue by being the most amazing day of my life. How is this possible?

I sat there momentarily thinking to myself, when I heard someone outside the door. I heard keys jingling and figured it was Alice. I stood up and opened the door.

"Alice!" I squealed.

"Hi Bella!" she replied, shuffling into the apartment and going directly to her room. "How was _your _evening?"

I followed her to her bedroom and collapsed on her bed. She went to her dresser and started rummaging around for something.

"Amazing. Completely indescribable". I exhaled.

She turned around to flash me a smile, but I noticed that she didn't seem nearly as happy as she was yesterday.

"Alice, what's wrong?" I asked, concerned.

She exhaled, picking up a t-shirt from her dresser and then shuffling over to the bed. "Jasper found me."

My mouth flopped open and my jaw hit the floor. "What did you just say?"

"I said, 'Jasper found me'." Her words tumbled out of her mouth and she collapsed on the floor.

I slid to the floor and put my arms around her, "How? When?"

Her head rested on my shoulder and she began to sob. "I don't know! I didn't tell him my address or anything!"

"Well, do you think your parents told him?" I asked quietly.

She shook her head fervently, "No. Definitely not. They hate him."

"Did he say how he found you?" I inquired.

"No. He just showed up at Jimmy's when I was eating." Her voice was distant, almost lost.

I sighed, "Aw, honey, I'm sorry. What happened?"

"Well, I was just eating my pizza, you know? Enjoying myself. Felix was there and we were holding hands. It was the perfect start to the evening."

"Then?" I pushed her.

"Well, I heard Jimmy yell to the front door that it was a private party and that he wasn't on the guest list. So I looked up to see who it was. And it was Jasper." She started sobbing harder. "He looks awful, Bella. Sickly, skinny, his face gaunt-like. He ignored Jimmy and came up to me and begged me to talk to him. I looked at Felix, who was so confused. I asked for a minute and he just nodded to me. So, I left Jimmy's. With Jasper."

I froze, "You left… with Jasper? What about Felix?"

The sobbing that had calmed, picked up again, "I don't know! I tried to call him, but he wouldn't answer his phone. I'm so scared, Bella." She sat up and looked at me, her eyes as wide as saucers, "I don't want Jasper, Bella! I know that now!"

I furrowed my brows, "What happened between you two?"

"I took him down to the water front. And we talked. About everything. About what had happened. What I had seen that day so long ago. What he's been doing since."

"And?"

She sighed, "He's miserable. He admitted he was cheating on me. 'Because he was _so_ lonely'. He didn't graduate from college. He dropped out."

"Are you serious?"

She nodded her head, "He said he couldn't deal with the guilt. Started seeing a counselor."

"So now what?" I was worried, the last thing I needed was a crazed Jasper stalking Alice.

She wiped her eyes, "He said that he needed to apologize to me. That it was part of his 'plan to recovery'. He said that right now, he didn't want me… because he wasn't ready yet. He hadn't fully gotten over everything."

"So what you're saying is that he'll be back?"

"I'm not sure. He said he might get through this and decide that he's ready to move on. The only thing he was sure of was that he needed to apologize to my face and have me accept that apology."

"And did you?" I asked, flabbergasted. How could she accept his apology? He had practically ruined her life.

"The Bible says to forgive and forget. So I forgave him. It was the mature thing to do. I honestly feel better." She conveyed.

"If you feel better, then why are you so sad honey?" I asked her.

She started crying again. "Because I can't get a hold of Felix! What if he hates me!"

"Oh, Alice. Honey, he doesn't hate you. He's probably just a little scared. He'll come around." I thought for a moment, "Where's your phone?"

She stood up and grabbed her purse, throwing it at me. I dug around, searching for her phone. I scrolled through her contact list, finding Felix's number. I forwarded it to my phone and gave hers back to her. "Give me a sec, k?"

Alice nodded her head and climbed in to her bed, hugging her polar bear again. I left the room and went to mine. I dialed Felix's number.

After a few rings, his gruff voice resonated through the phone. "Hello?"

"Hi Felix, this is Bella."

"Oh hey, Bella. What's up? Are you okay? Is Alice okay?"

I immediately set to calming him. "We're both just fine. Alice is a little worried. She thinks you hate her."

He groaned, "I'm not mad at her. I'm just confused. Who the hell was that guy from last night?"

I sighed, "You're not going to like this, but it was her ex-boyfriend. The one that cheated on her."

"You're kidding? I never should have let her go."

"She's fine, like I said. Just a little shook up. She could use some comforting right now."

I heard him rustling around his room and he finally said, "I'll be over in fifteen minutes."

I smiled, "See you later!"

I snapped the phone closed and went back over to Alice's room. "You and I have visitors coming."

She looked up at me, confused. "Who?"

I smiled widely. "Well, Felix is coming over for you… and Drake is coming back over for me!" I squealed at the last bit.

"Oh my God! He's coming back?" She flew out of her bed and over to me. "What are you doing? Where are you going? What are you going to wear?" The questions flew off her tongue, and she immediately became the old Alice.

"Well, we're just going to hang out at the pool. Speaking of which, I need to get my suit on." I turned to go back to my room, but Alice stopped me.

"I was saving this for a special occasion, but I think this will be perfect." She tossed a bundle of fabric my way and my cheeks tinged pink. It was a bikini. An itsy bitsy black bikini. With animal print. And sequins.

"Alice, this is never going to fit me." I admitted.

"It will. I know your measurements." She said proudly.

My mouth gaped open, "You made this?"

She nodded, "Mmhmm, now! Go put it on!"

I squealed and ran to the bathroom, slipping on the tiny suit. I felt a bit naked, but sexy. I walked back to her room and she squealed.

"It's perfect!" She cried.

I looked at myself in her full length mirror. It was definitely tiny. Yet surprisingly, the color and patterns worked with my skin tone. The animal print was different- tiger stripe here, cheetah print there. But the sequins were black and gold. It was a tie string, so I had bows on my hips, one around my neck, and one at the center of my back. It was perfect.

"Thanks Ali!" I turned and hugged her.

"Don't mention it." She sat back down on the bed, only to bounce back up, a frightened look on her face. "Did you say Felix was coming?"

I laughed, looking at her alarm clock, "Yes. You have roughly 10 minutes to get ready."

She squealed, running around her room, throwing things on. I left the room and went back to the bathroom. I threw on some water proof mascara and some sun block to my face. I was about to go back to my room when I heard the doorbell ring.

I trotted out to the door and whipped it open.

Felix entered without so much as a hello, "Where is she?"

I laughed, "Bedroom."

"Thanks." He mumbled, hurriedly walking down the hall. He entered the room, I heard a squeal, and the door slam closed.

I sighed. I had done my good deed of the day. I forgot I was standing in the doorway in my bikini until I heard another voice.

"Is this how you greet all your guests?" A smooth voice called out to me.

I looked out to the driveway and noticed a very nice silver Mercedes Benz with a very sexy looking Drake leaning against the hood. He was wearing a pair of white and red Ecko board shorts with a tight, plain black t-shirt clinging to his chest.

I smiled, "Oh yes, the neighbors love it." I returned, padding my way to the driveway.

I put my arms around his neck and grinned. "Hi."

He kissed me, "Well hello."

His hands wrapped around my almost naked body and pulled me close to his chest. I could feel his heart beating rapidly under his shirt. "Let's get you to the pool." I said. "You look like you could use a tan" I chided, winking at him before heading back towards my apartment.

He sat there for a second, but then jumped off the hood of the car and chased me to the apartment. We had made it to the hallway when he exclaimed, "I need a tan?" His hands grabbed my sides and dug into them, tickling me furiously. "ME?"

I laughed heartily, "Stop! Stop!" I continued laughing, and he slowed down the tickling, kissing my shoulder.

"That's what you get. Psh, I need a tan. Girl, you are the whitest thing I've ever seen in Texas!" He teased.

I slapped his chest softly. "I try to tan! It's just not in my genes." I walked to my room, grabbing my sunglasses, a book, the sun block, and a towel. "Do you need a towel?" I asked him.

"If you wouldn't mind." He replied.

"Not a problem." I grabbed another towel and led him out the backdoor, towards the pool. Thankfully, there were no other people around. I opened the gate to the pool, and chose a chair, setting my stuff on top. I turned around to ask him to put sun block on my back and I froze.

He was pulling the black t-shirt over his head, his arms flexed back, pulling the shirt off his back. His biceps were bulging, but what really got me was the tattoo on the inside of his left bicep. I immediately felt a surge of desire rush through me. How could I have not noticed that before?

"What does that say?" I asked, nodding at his tattoo.

"Fearless." He said simply. "I got it when I was seventeen. I felt like I needed something to remind me of what I needed to be if I was going to be successful."

I smiled, "I like it." My eyes drifted from his eyes down his body. His creamy chocolate skin was taut against his muscles. His stomach was exactly what I thought it would be- a washboard. I swallowed hard as I ventured my way down, my eyes bulging at that glorious V-cut that graced his lower abdomen, leading down, down, down…

"Ahem." He coughed, "I'm going to start charging you if you keep staring at me like that."

I giggled nervously, "Sorry. I guess I got carried away."

He walked around his chair and came up to me, wrapping his arms around me and whispering in my ear, "It's okay- I got a full dose of sexy when you were standing in your doorway."

I blushed and lightly slapped his shoulder, "Ha, ha. Would you do me a favor?"

Drake smiled that mischievous smile that I was beginning to love, "What's that?" He trailed his finger up and down my naked arm and I shivered.

"Sunblock!" I squeaked out, "My back. Please."

He laughed, "Sure thing kitten."

I handed him the bottle of SPF 45 and he snickered.

"It's no wonder you don't tan," he said, holding the bottle up.

I scowled, "If I use anything less, I burn. A lot. And I prefer to be protected than look like a lobster. Now, please- apply before my back turns bright red."

He laughed, "Easy kitten, easy." He squeezed out a dollop on his hand and rubbed his palms together and then started rubbing it on my back.

His hands were large and warm which was in direct contrast with the cold lotion and I shivered again under his touch. His hands drifted from my shoulder blades down to my lower back, dipping under the tiny string that held my top on. I could feel his breath on my back and then my ear.

"I think you're trying to kill me." He whispered.

I shook my head, "Why do you think that?"

I felt his finger jab into my lower backside, just above my right butt cheek. "What's this?"

"Oh!" I had nearly forgotten about my own tattoo that I had gotten over two years ago. "Alice and I have the same one."

He nodded, "It's Chinese too, right? What's it say?"

"Yeah. It says 'carry on'. I guess we're alike in the idea that we wanted something to remind us to move on with our lives." I said thoughtfully.

His hand palmed over the ink on my skin and he grasped at my side, placing a kiss on my shoulder. "You just keep amazing me," he whispered, his lips grazing my earlobe.

I turned around and kissed him quickly on the lips. I grabbed his hand and smiled wickedly, pulling him towards the pool with all my might. He apparently had a tight grip on my own hand, because we splashed into the pool together.

We surfaced, laughing.

"You're going to pay for that!" Drake yelled, swimming towards me.

I squealed and tried to swim away, unsuccessfully. He grabbed a hold of me and picked me up, throwing me further into the deep end. By the time I surfaced, he was by my side again, his hands reaching for my waist, pulling me tight against him.

He brought his face close to mine, our foreheads touching and gruffly said, "You said I could come over to play- if I played nicely. But _you _are being rather naughty, kitten."

I averted my eyes to his chest, noticing the curly, black hairs that seemed to cover it. I also noticed how beautifully defined his pecs were. This man was surely nothing short of a God-like creature. Instead of responding to his jibe, I moved my head to the side, shrugged my shoulders and kissed his bulging shoulder muscle. Then up a little further, with my lips resting on his collar bone. And again, on his neck. Back down to his collar bone, nibbling and tasting him.

I felt his hands slip down to cup my backside, picking me up, causing me to wrap my legs around his waist and place my heated core into his length. He moaned at the touch and I suckled harder on his collar bone. His head bent down and I felt his tongue graze my earlobe.

His voice was husky when he spoke, "I'm afraid this is cause for punishment, kitten."

I shivered as his warm breath fanned over my ear and my neck. I wrapped myself tighter against his muscular body and hummed in satisfaction, peppering kisses up and down his neck and shoulders. I squeaked when I felt something brush my back, but calmed when I realized it was the poolside wall.

The water lapped up against our faces, as our heads and shoulders were the only part not completely covered in water. Drake used the wall to his advantage, pinning me against it, and pressing into me further. I finally ventured a look into his face and he took that moment to crash his lips to mine. He kissed me hungrily and I moaned in return. His hands had moved from my back to my hips and he was gliding them up and down, moving from my hips to my ribcage, up and down again, causing the friction between us to increase. His tongue darted out, licking my lip and I nipped at his own lip, catching it in my teeth and suckling.

I could feel him growing harder and it only fueled my desire for him. If I didn't have him today, there would be no doubt that I would burst in sexual frustration.

At this thought, I felt his finger dip into the waistline of my bottoms. He glided the finger back and forth along the top of the fabric, pausing, almost as if he was unsure to continue.

"I need you," I whispered haggardly. "Please."

He took those four simple words as his permission, kissing me deeper and trailing in finger down the line of my bikini, and then palmed the sensitive area from the outside, slowly rubbing his hand in circles. I moaned at his touch and kissed him.

"We need to get out of this pool. Now." His voice sounded urgent, but laced with hunger. For me.

I nodded my head and started to swim towards the ladder, but his hand caught mine and pulled me close to him again, his eyes seemed to be searching mine for something. He looked worried.

"Are you sure?" He asked me quietly.

I nodded my head, admitting easily, "I've never wanted anything more in my life."

He smiled that beautiful, mischievous grin and kissed me, taking my breath away. "Now, let's get out of this pool." His arms snaked around my waist and he dragged me towards the ladder, lifeguard style.

I giggled and climbed my way out of the pool, knowing full well that Drake was enjoying the sight before him. I felt a slap on my butt and turned around to scowl at him.

He held up both his arms and exclaimed, "It wasn't me!"

"Oh, ha ha. If it wasn't you, then who was it, hmmm?" I asked, playing along with his ploy.

I then heard a cough coming from direction of the gate of the pool and a melodic, velvet voice cut through the air.

"Obviously it was the invisible pool manatee."

**A/N: Another chapter down. Where's my reviews at? :) Much love to my beta, _Endlesslywaiting. _I could praise you to the moon and back and it wouldn't be enough :)**

**无畏- fearless (wu wei)**

**接着做- carry on (jiezhezuo)**


	6. Vistors, Testosterone, and Bliss

**Chapter 6- Uninvited Visitors, Testosterone, and Bliss**

**A/N: This chapter gets a little...mature... towards the end. Not super graphic, but still. You have been warned!  
**

I whirled around quickly, nearly falling back into the pool. I felt my stomach drop to the ground and I thought for sure that I was going to be sick. I swallowed thickly and found, somehow, strength to speak.

"Edward… What are you doing here?" My voice was strong, but a bit pushy.

Edward started to glide toward me, but I took a step away, putting my hands up, motioning for him to not move. His eyes caught mine and I was frightened by the fierce, cold look on his face. It was not uncommon to see such a look, as he was known for being rather angsty. He'd just never used that look on me.

He sighed, his expression softening a little, "Jasper just _had_ to come see Alice. I couldn't let him come alone. So I tagged along."

I heard Drake climb the rest of the way out of the pool and felt a warm arm wrap around my waist, giving me support I hadn't realized I had needed as much as I did. I turned to Drake, but his eyes were staring hard at Edward.

I turned back to Edward, angry, "You just _thought_ you'd tag along? And what? Track me down while you were at it?"

He stared at me, "I wouldn't have had to track you down if you had returned any of my numerous phone calls… or emails… or Facebook messages." His voice was low, but laced with irritation.

I scoffed, "It's over between us. I've moved on and according to Facebook, so have you."

At this, his eyes averted to the ground, and I thought I saw a look of pain grace his face. "It's been two years, Isabella, I had to do something."

I sighed. I hated it when he called me Isabella. I grabbed a hold of Drake's hand and pulled him towards our towels on the chairs. I felt even more naked in my tiny bikini with Edward staring, or rather gawking, at me. As we passed Edward, his hand reached out to grab my arm.

Before I could tell Edward to back off, he was on the ground, with Drake on top of him, bracing his arms above his head. "Don't touch her." Drake seethed.

Edward growled out, he eyes connecting with Drake's, "It seems you found yourself another guard dog, Isabella."

Drake cut in again, his voice low, but strong. "Her name is Bella." He got up and walked over to me, wrapping his arms around me, "Who the hell do you think you are coming in here unannounced? I could have you arrested and put in jail for trespassing."

Edward slowly climbed up to his feet, brushing off his clothes in dramatic swipes. "Bella, maybe you could put your guard dog in the kennel for a while so we could talk?"

I stared at him, more in disbelief than anything. He had no clue who Drake was. And he was calling him a dog.

I put my hands on my hips and spoke firmly, "Edward, I'm pretty sure that if Drake here wanted you arrested, he'd have it done by now. But for some reason or another, even _after _all the insults, he has not called the police."

Edward faltered and his beautiful face fell, "Drake? Like…. Drake, the singer?"

Drake's arms held me tighter, "Yes, like the singer. And if you wanna talk to my girl, it's gonna have to be in front of me."

I felt a surge of pride flow through me, he had called me "his girl". _Swoon_. I mentally chided myself—there would be time for swooning later. Right now, I had to get rid of Edward!

"What are you doing here, Edward?" I asked him finally.

He started to walk towards me again, but a growl emitted from Drake's body and Edward froze. He sighed exasperated.

"I just wanted to see you, Bella. It's been two years and we haven't said a single word to each other. I miss us. I miss you." Usually those three final words would have stirred up some form of emotion, anything, but today I felt nothing.

I stepped forward, out of Drake's embrace and found myself in front of a man that I had spent four years of my life with. His copper hair, still unruly was a tad longer, and his emerald grin eyes weren't as happy as they once were. I thought at one time he was my soul mate, my one and only. My "forever" love. Now, standing before him, taking him in, I realized that I was finally over Edward.

I reached out and took his hand, and softly said, "Edward, I'm sorry. Yes, we had good times. Yes, we laughed and enjoyed each other's company, but that's all in the past. I'm not willing to dive back into that, Edward. I'm pushing forward with the present and experiencing my future. I'm sorry, I just… I don't miss you."

His face fell again, and it was almost as if I had shattered his most important dream. He sighed loudly, grabbed my hand tightly, and pulled me against his chest. The towel I had wrapped around me fell to the ground.

Gruffly and quickly, he said, "I'm sorry, but I don't believe that." Then he swooped down and kissed me, hard. He poured every ounce of emotion into this kiss and I still felt nothing. I squealed against his embrace and tried to break away from him.

Suddenly, Edward was no longer holding me. And I was surrounded by water. As I surfaced for air, I realized that Drake must have tackled Edward and accidently drug me into the pool with them. I screamed when I noticed neither of them had come up for air.

Just then, the water broke and Edward lunged for Drake. But Drake was too quick and swam out of the way. They stood, staring at each other. Drake called out to me.

"Bella, get out of the pool, now," he commanded me.

Not wanting to ignore his command, I swam towards the pool ladder and climbed out. Just when I was about to turn around and tell them to get out of the pool too, Edward lunged at Drake. He grabbed Drake's arm and pulled him close enough so that he could punch him. Edward's fist met Drake's cheek and I cried out again.

"Edward! Stop it!" I screamed.

"He asked for it!" Edward called back.

Drake spat some of the water and blood out of his mouth and he lunged for Edward, grabbing hold of his arm and elbowed him in the brow, effectively breaking the skin there. Edward sank into the water and came back up sputtering. Drake was ready and threw another punch to his face and I watched as the water surrounding them slowly became redder and redder by the second.

But Edward wasn't going to go down easy, and just as Drake was about to swim to the ladder, he was pulled under water. Bubbles surfaced and I could barely make out their grappling at each other through the bloody water.

"Oh my God!" I cried, about to run for help. I heard another deep splash and a body enter the pool.

Felix had joined the fight, easily bringing the two up for water. They were both sputtering for air, and breathing heave. Felix was now standing between the two men, his arms spread wide. He looked at Drake first.

"Dude - get out of the pool. Now." He ordered Drake easily. Drake nodded and swam towards the steps to climb out.

I immediately rushed towards him with a towel and started dabbing away at the cuts on his face. "What were you thinking?" I asked him quickly and quietly.

"He assaulted you, Bella. I wasn't going to stand for that." He retorted.

I humphed, "Thank you for trying to be my knight in shining armor, but I had it under control."

He smiled weakly, "Yeah, sure. Sorry, I'm just a little bit protective…."

"And jealous?" I added.

He looked down at the ground, "Sorry."

I lifted his head up to look at me, "Don't be." I added softly, "And they say chivalry is dead." I smiled before I kissed him softly on his lips and turned around to find Felix dragging Edward out of the pool.

When both were on solid ground, Felix addressed him. "I think you should leave. Get your brother and go." Felix shoved him none too gently away towards the gate.

Edward looked at me and then back to Felix, "I see you've made yourself some protective friends down here."

"You know Edward, believe it or not, I really don't need you to save me. I don't need you to protect me or to 'guide' my future. I'm doing really well on my own." I eyed him and quickly added, "and so is Alice. So please- just get Jasper and go."

His shoulders sunk and water dripped from his sopping wet clothing. Droplets were falling from his cinnamon colored locks and his green eyes were filled with defeat. His hand reached into his pocket and he pulled something out.

"I'm lucky this didn't get lost in the fight." He said, eyeing Drake. He slowly inched towards me and took my hand, placing the object inside. "I bought this for you during our senior year of high school and I want you to have it."

I opened my fist slowly and gasped when I saw it. A silver ring with a large sapphire blue stone set in the center. The stone was cut in the emerald style and had two smaller stones on either side of it. Two small diamonds sat next to the smaller sapphires.

I began to shake my head, "No, I can't take this Edward."

He nodded his head, "Yes you can. If anything, take it as a goodbye gift."

I closed my hand around the ring and gave him a small smile. "Thank you."

In response, Edward gave me his crooked grin and laughed, "Don't mention it." He turned to Drake, "Take good care of her."

Drake nodded solemnly, "I will."

I sighed, realizing that I had finally received the closure I needed from him. Edward turned and walked out the pool gate. It clicked closed and he disappeared around the corner of the building. It was the last time I ever saw him.

Felix had followed Edward out, so Drake and I were alone. I wrapped my arms around Drake and kissed his collarbone and neck, whispering thank you over and over again. His arms wrapped around mine and he kissed my forehead.

"I will take care of you. You know that right?" He asked me.

I nodded my head, but ignored his comment. "Come on, let's go get you cleaned up."

I grabbed our stuff and his hand and tugged him towards my apartment. I entered through the back door, dropping my stuff on the floor and pulling him towards the bathroom. I sat him down on the toilet and pulled out my first aid kit. I cleaned the cuts he received and got him an ice pack for his cheek.

"You act like you've done this before," he muttered, as he shivered from the cold of the ice.

I laughed, my hand holding the ice pack to his cheek, "I may not have gotten into a fist fight, but I've gotten into fights with every other inanimate object in the world. I'm the resident klutz here."

His hand reached up and grabbed mine, pulling the ice pack away from his face. He pulled me down to his lap and the look in his eyes told me more than any words ever could have.

He spoke softly, "You are so beautiful."

I blushed red and averted my eyes. I then felt his warm lips pressing against mine. What started out as soft and loving quickly turned into something much more passionate. Still kissing me, he picked me up bridal style, and carried me to my bedroom. He kicked the door shut behind him and gently laid me on my bed, never breaking the kiss.

He laid down on top of me, his body comfortably situated in all the right places. Just as I was about to gasp for air, he moved from kissing my lips, up my jaw bone, to my ear lobe. I moaned in response, my arms wrapping solidly around his neck and arched my body into him further. His rough hands moved up and down my naked torso and I sighed when his teeth grazed my ear lobe. My nails raked softly down his back and he moaned as he kissed my neck.

A shrill voice cut through the air, "Bell! Bell!" Alice swung open my door, fright in her eyes, "Oh, God! Uh," She immediately turned around, "Sorry!" She squeaked.

Drake smirked as he slid off of me, "No big."

Still facing away from us Alice continued, "Felix just told me what happened. Are you okay?"

I laughed, "Alice, you can turn around. And yes, I'm fine."

She whirled around and gracefully sped across my room to my bed. "I'm so sorry." She said, pulling me into a hug.

"Honestly Alice, I'm fine. Really." I assured her.

She pulled me tighter, kissed my forehead and then turned to Drake, "Thank you."

He shrugged his shoulders, "No big," he said again.

We sat quietly for a moment. "So, I think Felix and I are going to grab some food, and maybe get him some dry clothes." Alice said easily.

"Oookay. Well, I guess we'll see you when you get back." I answered, silently thanking Alice for leaving and making it seem so nonchalant.

"K." She responded, gliding out the door. She popped her head back in the door way, "Have fun, you two!" She winked as she grabbed the door knob and pulled the door closed.

I blushed bright red, "Sorry about that."

Drake smiled, "No big." He crawled towards me and slid back on top of me, kissing my nose.

"You've said that three time in the past two minutes, you know." I jibed.

"I know." He responded, placing a sweet kiss on my cheek. "How about I tell you how beautiful you are." He kissed my jaw line up to my ear before he nibbled on it.

"Mmm, yeah, sure" I stuttered out, feeling of need shooting to my core.

His hands rested on my hips and his thumbs dug into my side, pulling me tighter against him. I could feel his arousal and I rubbed against it, eliciting a deep moan from him.

"Bella, I have _got_ to have you." He murmured, kissing me, his tongue darting out to graze my lip.

I nodded in agreement and my hands slid down to his trunks, cupping his butt. He moaned in my mouth and snaked his hand up to cup my breast. He sat up, lifting me up as he went and reached around to untie the strap to my bikini top. He made short work of it and I slid the rest of it off, leaving me exposed in front of him.

He laid me back down, kissing my collarbone and down between my breasts. "So beautiful" he murmured to himself. His lips made their way to my nipple and he swirled his tongue around it, causing it to instantly harden. He did the same to my other nipple and I moaned even louder. He kissed back down my stomach, down my hip line, and kissed along the line of my bikini. His eyes were on mine the entire time, begging for permission to do whatever he desired.

And I did desire, very much.

His fingers pulled at the bows on my hips, effectively untying them. He pulled the black fabric away from my body leaving me completely naked. He paused, his eyes drifting up and down my body, full of lust.

"I'm going to start charging you if you keep staring like that" I teased, my hands on his scalp. He smirked and kissed each hip bone.

"Sorry, maybe if you weren't so damn breathtaking I wouldn't be staring at you like a fool" he whispered, his voice husky.

I moaned as his tongue traveled from my hip, inching ever so close to my center. He smirked again, knowing that what he was doing was driving me crazy. He pushed my legs a part and lazily moved his finger up and down, pressing slightly on my clit.

"Drake, please. I need you." I moaned.

At this I felt his tongue move against me and I shuddered at his touch. He licked up and down my clit and just when I was about to hit my climax, he inserted his finger inside me.

I let out a burst of air I didn't realize I was holding and let my orgasm take over me completely, causing my entire body to shudder. I cried out his name, my hand grabbed at his head, pulling him closer.

He grinned and wiped his mouth as he climbed back on top of and kissed my lips. I smiled and pushed him on his back and climbed on top of him, straddling his hips. I kissed down his chest, my hair tickling his stomach as I went. I kissed him down his v-line and suckled on his muscles. I undid his shorts and pulled them down, releasing his massive erection.

I was about to put my mouth on him when he grabbed my arms and pulled me up to him.

"There'll be time for that later. I need you now." He said, his voice full of desire.

I reached over into my nightstand and pulled out a condom and ripped open the package. I rolled it onto him and positioned myself on top of him.

Slowly, I slid down his length, crying out in a mixture of pain and pleasure. I started moving back and forth, grinding into him, slowly at first, but gradually picking up speed as I went.

"God Bella," he moaned out, his hands pressing hard on my hips.

I continued to move back and forth, knowing that I was about to climax again. I moved faster, my nails digging into his chest. A wave of pleasure overcame me and I slumped over him, breathing heavily.

He kissed my nose and forehead, "huh uh, I ain't done with you yet". He flipped me over quickly and pressed back into me. He pumped harder and faster, his head nestled into the crook of my neck.

"Oh, oh God, Drake!" I exclaimed.

"Mmmm, you feel so good, Bella."

His breathing started to pick up and I knew he was about to come. I held him tighter to me, digging my heels into his backside.

He cried out my name as he came and then collapsed on top of me, sweaty and absolutely beautiful.

"That" he said breathily, "was amazing."

"Definitely" I responded, breathing just as hard.

He pulled the condom off and got out of bed to throw it away. He quickly returned to my bed, climbing in next to me, and pulled me close to him, my arm and leg lying on top of his body.

"You're incredible," he whispered in my ear, kissing my temple.

"Mmmm" I said, sleepily.

His hand moved up and down my arm and my breathing got slower and deeper. The events of the day slipped away as I slid into a blissful state of sleep.

I awoke to the sound of my cell phone buzzing somewhere in my room. It had gotten considerably darker since the sun went down. I flipped on my nightstand light and blearily found my phone sitting in a heap of clothing by my door.

"What?" I whispered, annoyed that I was awakened by this person.

Jake's husky voice responded, "And Hells Bells returns!"

"Argh! Sorry, I just woke up from the most…." I looked at my bed and instantly felt a wave of calm rush over me. Drake was still here. In my bed. Naked. "delicious nap."

Jake laughed, "Since when do naps taste good?"

I smiled, "I'll tell you later! Now, what do you want?"

"What do I want? You were supposed to call me about the concert!" He exclaimed.

"Oops. Sorry, I've been otherwise… occupied." I responded, trying to stay discreet about the fact that the past couple of days were nothing short of the most perfect days in my life.

Jake's hearty laugh came through the line, and he teased, "Mmmhmmm- picked up some tail at the concert, didn't cha?"

I smiled, "Something like that. Listen- I'll call you about the concert later and email you my pics, k? I have something I need to take care of right now."

"Sure, sure." He responded in his very own Jakey-way. "Call me later!"

"Bye Jake, love you!" I told him before snapping the phone shut. I threw the phone back onto the pile of clothing and climbed back into my bed.

I snuggled up into the most delicious thing I've ever met and hummed in happiness. My arm draped across his chest, and my knee was tucked up into his stomach. His arms wrapped around me and pulled me closer.

"Who was that?" He murmured, still asleep.

I smiled, "Jake. He wanted to know about the concert."

"What'd you tell him?" He asked easily, his eyes still closed.

I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, "That'd I'd call him back later."

It was Drake's turn to smile, "What'd you do that for?"

At this, I slowly climbed my way back on top of him. "Because. I found my mind was somewhere other than the conversation."

Drake's eyes slowly opened and his hands rested at my hips. His velvety smooth voice asked, "Mmmm, and where was that?"

I smiled seductively and leaned down to kiss him on the lips. "Why don't I show you?"

A grin tugged at Drake's lips and I giggled when his hands squeezed my sides. His hands moved up to my shoulder blades and he pulled me even closer to him, our noses touching. "I think I'd like that."

_**A/N: **_**Well- What ya'll think? Only the epilogue left. Thanks for reviewing and of course, taking the time to read it! Super big love to my fantastic beta, _Endlesslywaiting_- I love you!**


	7. Home Visits and Memories  Epilogue

**Epilogue- Home visits and Memories**

_Several Months Later (August)_

"Dad!" I exclaimed as I ran across my yard into his open arms.

His cheeks turned a shade of red and he responded, "Hiya Bells!"

I hugged him tighter to me, "Goodness, I've missed you!"

He kissed the top of my head and whispered, "It's good to have you home!" With a glint in his eyes, he teased, "I'm starving!"

I tossed my head back and laughed heartily. I raised an eyebrow and gave him a mischievous smile, "I thought Sue was keeping you well fed."

He smiled even wider and his cheeks turned pinker. "I can't help it if I'm partial to my own daughter's cooking!" He winked at me and turned around to head back into the house.

"Um, Dad, there's someone I want you to meet." I called after him as nerves caused my body to break out in a sweat.

Charlie spun around and looked straight towards my rental car, "Oh?" He looked at me then back to the car.

I also looked at the car, knowing Drake would see me and I gave him a small wave. Slowly, he stepped out of the vehicle and made his way towards me.

"Dad, this is Aubrey-er, Drake. Um, Aubrey, this is my Dad, Charlie." I placed my arm around Drake's waist and pulled him close to me as he stuck his hand out to shake Charlie's.

"Sir, I've heard a lot about you." Drake gave him an easy smile as he put his arm around my shoulder.

Charlie responded, "Well, that makes one of us." He gave me a surprised look, but smiled. "So, is it Aubrey or Drake?"

Drake grinned widely, "Well . . . my stage name is Drake, but you can call me Aubrey, sir."

Charlie's eyes flitted from mine to Drake's back to mine. "Stage name?" He inquired.

"Erm, yeah. I'm sort of a performer." I gave Drake a tight squeeze, knowing he was just as nervous as I was.

"Hmmm, a performer huh? Well, why don't you come inside so we can talk." Charlie gestured for us to go into the house and we settled for the living room. Charlie turned off the television and just stared at us.

"So, when did you two meet?" He asked gruffly.

I took Drake's hand and squeezed it, saying "Well, you remember that concert I told you that I won tickets to back at the beginning of the summer?"

Charlie nodded his head, his eyes still bouncing from my face, to our clasped hands, up to Drake's face and back down again.

I smiled, "Well, I sort of got backstage tickets and well, that's where me and Aubrey started talking. He sings with that rap group I was telling you about, Young Money."

Charlie scratched his head, "Yeah, I think I remember."

Drake spoke up from there, "Well, we sort of just hit things off. And we've been together ever since. You raised an amazing daughter sir and man, can she cook!"

I beamed in pride and Charlie laughed warmly, "You got that right!" Charlie looked at his watch and back up to me, "Speaking of which, you wouldn't mind making a casserole would you? I sort of told Sue that we'd come over for dinner."

I raised my eyebrows and sighed, "How much time do I got?"

"About two hours." He answered before standing up and brushing at his pant legs. "You got luggage in the car?"

I nodded, "Yeah and don't worry Dad, Aubrey is going to stay at the hotel in town."

Charlie shook his head, "Now, I won't have none of that. I may be old, but I'm not naïve, you two. You look like love-sick puppies and I'll be damned if I'm the one to separate that."

I swear that my jaw dropped to the floor. Sure, I was nearly twenty-two and all, but since when did my dad, Chief of Police, become okay with the idea of a man sleeping with his only daughter?

That's when he answered my question and I wasn't that surprised anymore, "This here couch is actually a fold out, so we'll set that up for him to sleep on." He grinned, looking at Drake. "That okay with you, son?"

Drake nodded his head, "Sure, sure. No problem at all."

Charlie left the living room to get our bags and I took that time to kiss Drake, fully on the mouth. A smile tugged at his lips and I laughed.

"You were great." I whispered, kissing his beautiful lips again.

He laughed against my lips, "Oh, he's just protective of his little girl." His fingers found my hair and I moaned a little as he tugged on it. "And he should be. You're quite the vixen, kitten."

I grinned, "Then maybe he should be protecting you. God knows what I'll do to you in my own house."

We heard the front door slam close and I stood up, dragging Drake into my kitchen. I had told him so much about this kitchen, about the hours I had spent with my dad, the time I put into cooking the food he loves and how Jake and I would spend hours at the kitchen table doing homework. I walked over to the table, fingering the grooves on the old wood and grinned. Life was finally going really good for me.

Dad came into the kitchen and said, "Well, I put the stuff in your room, I didn't know whose were whose and I just figured you'd handle that on your own." He looked at me and then to Drake. "You want to watch some baseball, kid?"

I looked at Drake and gave him a nod. If my dad was asking Drake to watch baseball with him, that was a _very_ good sign. Drake smiled at me and followed Charlie into the living room. I could hear them discussing baseball and their favorite teams and I smiled widely, happy to see that my dad seemed to really like Drake.

I started pulling the ingredients out of the fridge and cupboard to make a green-bean casserole, since that's all I could find and set to work making up two batches. As I worked, I thought back on the past couple of months and how everything seemed to be coming together for me.

I was still living at the same apartment with Alice, despite Drake's pleas to move in with him. Alice had pretty much found herself a new roommate anyway in Felix and I was happy about that. I told Drake that I just wanted to be able to have my own place to go and he respected that. Drake and I spent every hour we could together, but it honestly wasn't that much. He was constantly travelling with the band, doing performances, television shows, radio shows and just working on spreading his name and music. I didn't mind too much, I knew what I was getting into when he asked me to be his girlfriend.

_Flashback_

_We were laying in bed, tangled up in each other and the covers, his arms holding me close into his chest. I kissed his hand and I heard him laugh quietly in my hair. _

"_What's so funny?" I asked him, my voice low and full of exhaustion._

_He kissed my shoulder and pulled me closer to him. "I'm trying to figure out how to ask you this question I have."_

_I grinned, figuring it was about dinner or breakfast. Drake always seemed to be hungry. I teased him about being pregnant all the time and he always went along with it, patting his stomach and going, "He's gonna be a soccer player!"_

_I laughed, "What kinda question is it?"_

"_Well, it's kinda important and it involves both of us."_

_I smiled, "Drake, I just fed you not even an hour ago!"_

_He smiled, pressing his lips to my shoulder blade and shook his head, "Can you call me Aubrey?"_

_I turned slowly to face him. "Aubrey?"_

_His chocolate brown eyes searched mine and his hands came up to cup my cheeks. "Yeah, Drake's my stage name. I don't want to pretend I'm anything but me around you, so call me Aubrey."_

_I smiled and kissed him on the nose, "Sure thing, Aubrey."_

_He took a deep breath, still cupping my face and blurted out, "Willyoubemygirlfiend?"_

_My eyes got wide and I sat there, completely silent for at least a minute. "I'm sorry . . ."_

_His face fell, "It's okay. I understand."_

_I shook my head, "No, wait…. Can you repeat the question? I honestly couldn't understand it!" I started giggling and his smiled as wide as the Cheshire cat's. Slowly, he turned me on my back, climbed on top of me and he poured his soul into just one look. _

_Strongly and much more confidently he said, "Bella Swan, will you be my girlfriend?"_

_I kissed him on the lips with all the passion I had inside me and I nodded my head fervently. I broke the kiss momentarily, "Yes!"_

_He kissed me again, returning my passion, with added vigor. We spent the next few hours revelling in each other's company, calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend and then giggling about it until our sides hurt._

I shook my head, smiling to myself and opened the can of green beans, pouring them into the pan. I smeared the mushroom cream on top and added some French onions on top. I did the same to the next pan and placed them both in the over. I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table, sipping my coffee slowly as I thought about the first fight Drake and I had.

_Flashback_

"_Bella, I don't understand what the problem is!" Drake yelled at me from across my room. His hands flew up to his head and he growled._

_I narrowed my eyes at him, "Don't yell at me, Aubrey! You know exactly what my problem is!"_

"_I shouldn't have to explain myself to you!" He roared back at me._

_My jaw dropped to the floor, "You shouldn't?" I repeated, trying to find the right words to express to him what the issue was. I took a deep breath, "Get out."_

_He looked at me, surprise on his face, "What?"_

"_I said 'get out', now leave!" I yelled back at him. _

_He shook his head, "No. I ain't leaving 'til we've talked about whatever the hell is bothering you!"_

_I climbed out of my bed and huffed over to my computer, moving the mouse, to reveal the photo that I had found. I pointed at the photo, "_This _is what is bothering me!" In the photo, Drake has his arm wrapped around a beautiful, dark skinned girl. His face was burrowed into her neck and she was smiling broadly._

_His face fell, obviously recognizing the girl from the photo. "Bella, that I can explain."_

_I laughed bitterly, "Oh, I'm sure you can. We haven't even been together at month and you're already cheating on me!"_

_Drake walked across the room and took a hold of my hands. "Bella, baby. I need you to take a deep breath, please." _

_I refused to look him in the eyes, but I did as he asked. He took a deep breath as well, and kissed my forehead. I absolutely hated that I could be so incredibly mad at him, but one kiss from him made all my fears and anger disappear._

"_Baby, that photo was taken months ago. Way before I even met you." At this, I looked up at him in disbelief. I was surprised to see nothing but certainty in his eyes._

"_Before you met me?" I asked, doubtful of his words._

_He shook his head, "Yes. Her name is Keisha and we grew up together. Hell, we're best friends, sort of like you and Jake. That photo was taken at Christmas time when I went up to see her. God knows why the pops released it now."_

"_You got any proof of this?" I asked, still skeptical._

_He smiled, "Actually, I do. I have that same exact photo when a digital date on it from my camera. And, I can have any of my boys back me up- hell, my dad would back me up." He sighed, pulling me into his arms, "I love you, Bella. And there is no way in hell that I would ever cheat on you. You are way too important to me."_

_I froze, his words still rolling around in my head. _He loved me?_ "I'm sorry. Did you just say you loved me?"_

_He laughed easily, "I guess I did. Didn't come out like I had planned, but yeah, it's the truth. I've loved you since the first time I laid my eyes on you, baby." He kissed my forehead and my cheek bones and finally, his lips rested on my mine._

_Unsure of how to respond, I kissed him back, fully. He stopped me by pulling back and looking at me seriously. "I don't want you to feel like you have to respond to that, I'm in no hurry and I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon."_

_I smiled and I pulled his face back to mine, "I love you too." Any feelings of doubt and confusion left my mind as I kissed this beautiful man before me and I smiled even wider against his lips. "God, I love you."_

_He walked me back onto the bed, kissed my lips lightly and kissed his way up to my ear. "You are so ferocious, kitten."_

_I growled at him and smacked him lightly on the head. "Shut up and kiss me."_

I took another deep swig of my coffee and nearly jumped out of skin when I heard someone clear their throat. I looked up to see Drake leaning against the door frame of the kitchen. His arms were crossed in front of him and he had an easy smile on his face.

"Whatcha thinking 'bout?" He asked me, walking towards the table and taking the seat beside me. He stretched his hands across the table and took my hands in his.

I squeezed his hands back and leaned across the table and kissed him softly on the lips. "Just about us."

He kissed me back, "What about us, kitten?"

I continued leaning across the table, our lips centimeters apart. "About the first time you told me you loved me."

He kissed me again, "And I still do, kitten."

"I know." The timer dinged and I got up to get the casseroles out of the oven. Putting the oven mitts on, I learned over to open the oven door. I felt two arms snake around my waist and I smiled, leaning into his strong embrace. "You're going to make me burn the casseroles."

Drake kissed the back of neck and laughed, "You? Burn something? Never!" he said, mockingly.

I growled and bumped him away from me with my behind. He swatted my butt and I heard him exit the kitchen. I pulled the casseroles out, happy with the turn out. I set them on top of the stove to cool, took my mitts off and walked out into the living room.

I saw my boyfriend and my father, leaning together, whispering about something that seemed incredibly serious.

"Whatcha talking about?" I asked them.

Charlie looked up at me and smiled, "Baseball."

I nodded my head, "Uh huh, sure sure."

I swiveled around on my heel and ran up to my room to unpack. I pulled out my cell phone and quickly typed out a text to Alice.

**Al- how's "meet the parents" night going for you?"- B**

I trudged over to my suitcase and opened them up, slowly unpacking my clothes. My phone buzzed and I flipped it open.

**Amazing. 'rents love Felix. :) –A**

**Yay! Same here, Charlie is digging Drake! –B**

**I told you he would! What you doing tonight? –A**

I smirked and typed in my response, **Dinner at the Rez. Drake will get to meet Jake. Can't decide if that's a good or bad thing. –B**

Unrolling my clothes and putting them in my closet, I was taken back to another memory of me and Drake.

_Flashback_

_I flew out of his bed and started running around for my clothes. Drake sat up slowly, wiping the sleep from his eyes. "Where you going?"_

"_I have class and I have to go home first to shower and change and I can't find my damn underwear!" I exclaimed, exasperated. _

_Drake laughed, "You know, if you just moved in some of your stuff over here, you wouldn't have this problem."_

_We'd only been "official" for a month and a half and I was still a tiny bit skeptical. I mean, what on earth could a beautiful, amazing, talented man like Drake want me for? Better yet—what would his roommates say? Some plain jane girl dating and living with rock stars. Oh yeah right, this totally happens in real life. _

_Drake had climbed out his bed and wrapped his arms around me, "Please Bella. You know this place never feels like home unless you're here. Having some of your stuff here might help with that." _

_I sighed, "Fine. I'll bring some stuff over later."_

With that, I had slowly started moving things over to his place, and he slowly started placing stuff around my house as well. I had cleared out a small area in my closet for him and he did the same for me. I was still scared that at any moment, he could drop me like a hot potato, but moving our stuff into each other's homes added some sort of finality to things.

My phone buzzed again.

**Dude- Jake will 3 Drake. You have no worries. –A**

I smiled, and typed out, **Thanks A, God knows where I'd be without you. –B**

Immediately, I got a text back, **Still in Texas, hehe. And def not dating a freaking music star! –A**

I shook my head, knowing she was totally telling the truth. **I know, I know. K, gotta go. 3 you!- B **

**Love you too, B! See you soon –A**

I finished unpacking my stuff and sat down on my bed, looking around at my room. Nothing had changed since I had been home. In fact, the only thing that had changed was me (and Charlie just a little bit). I was right- moving to Houston had been one of the best decisions of my life. School was great, my love life was amazing and I still had the absolute best friend in the world. I sighed as I let my head fall to the pillow. I curled up under my comforter and easily fell asleep thinking that my life could only go up from here.

**_A/N:_ I know, sort of cheesey ending, but hey- nobody said I was a good concluder. lol. As always- mad love to my beta, _Endlesswaiting_- you are an angel :) For those of you who have reviewed this little story, thank you. You made it worth writing :) I would love for others to read and review the story as well, as I did truly enjoy writing this fic. It was fun and flirty and sexy and just well- a good diversion. I would, of course, appreciate it greatly if you shameless pimped my little story out at your will. If I find out you did- I might be persuaded to write you a one shot featuring Ms Bella and Mr Drake :) hehe. When I first started writing this story, I knew there was many ways I could have taken it. She could have become his faithful groupie, traveling everywhere he went. They could have hooked up for a one nighter and she could have gotten preg-o. Edward could have come back into the situation and thrown her through a loop. But I like the way the story ended. It reinforced my belief that crazy things can happen when you least expect it to. Anywho- for those of you who have requested me to write me- I'm sorry! I have no free time right now! But I promise that once I find it, I will put it to good use! ;) Please continue to read and review other stories- as a writer I know how important a review truly is. Thank you!**

**xoxo**

**Brandi  
**


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